Emprise of the Enchanter
by The Scythian
Summary: In the land of Minecraftia, magic is just a legend to most, except Seto, who is determined to bring back the lost art, and even master it himself. There's just one problem; he's terrible at it, unable to brew even a simple potion. As terrible events conspire, can he finallly become the sorcerer he's always tried to be? Find out in "Emprise of the Enchanter".
1. The Inciting Incident

**Hello everyone, I'm new to FanFiction, but have previous experience writing. Anyway, this story is the story of how SetoSorcerer learned to actually be a sorcerer, an origin story of sorts, and I hope you enjoy it. There will be no pairings, just good old-fashioned adventure. This will be the first and only author;s note, and if you want to get the chapters earlier, be sure to follow me on Wattpad as they go there first, then are uploaded here. Well, time to start: Emprise of the Enchanter!**

Carefully mixing in the ingredients, he waited until the liquid in the vial had turned a dark fuchsia. Then, he carefully mixed in a 3/4 pinch of magma cream..

_BOOM!_

The potion blew up in Seto's face, covering his normal white robe in a pink, sparkly mixture and black ash. Frustrated, he threw off his once-white hood, and stepped outside, out of his make-shift mage tower, away from the mess he made and probably would have to clean up, again. Thankfully, he had built his "mage tower" on the outside corner of an empty forest, so the chance of anyone seeing him while he was in sparkle mode was very minimal. He ran a gloved hand through his messy brown hair, and looked back into the window of his tower. It didn't look very good, as he saw pink foam rising faster than fresh-baked bread. He sighed, and leaned against the stone structure, thinking about how he had been so close. So close, yet so far. He had been trying to create a simple Instant Health potion, but had ended up creating an ever-expanding foam. Ever since he had discovered and took up the lost art of sorcery, it had only been one failure after another, and had to be much more patient and reserved. He had been pretty patient to begin with, so that was saying something. But, even now, his patience was trying him even harder than usual. This was his nineteenth failure in a row.

He had some basic information from some spell books he had rescued from an old library before the rest perished in a fire, but that had been several years ago. Not much had happened since, though. In those several years he had about, one, two successes? The numbers show that he was truly terrible at it, and at first he thought that all he needed to do was practice and learn along the way, but it seemed that he had only gotten worse as the months passed. Just gathering ingredients was hard enough, but he apparently lacked the magic touch, literally. Once in a while, an enchantment worked, or a potion fizzed to life from the combustion and fission of magical elements, but these even turned sour as they were the simplest of enchantments, like Sharpness I for diamond swords, and forty-five second potions of Poison.

These rarely ever helped him, not to mention his friends. When Deadlox had wanted a potion of Fire Resistance, he couldn't even brew past the Awkward potion stage. But the icing on the cake had to go to his hopes. The cake truly was a lie, this time. He had aspired to create balls of flame from his hand alone and hurricanes of wind with sheer mental will alone. So far, nothing. There was no one to show him, too. Magic was a dying art that no one had the answer to. It was disappearing faster than diamonds near Bajan. He got up off of the wall, as he had heard what sounded like the foundation creaking, and walked into the yard, just to be safe. However, he was heavily weighed down by his white, now pink, cape. He unfastened the single flint button keeping it on his shoulders, and took it off. Feeling the wet potion-drenched wool, he rang the cape out as you would a washcloth.

Suddenly, he heard the crunch of footsteps on gravel. His head perked up, and he looked down the gravel path. Someone was coming! Seto squinted his eyes to see who it was, but the high noon sun made the figure look black from a distance. Panicking, he quickly buttoned his cape back on, and started pacing, trying to find a way out. Normally, visitors were easy to deal with; he just hid in his tower until they left, pretending he was out gathering materials. If you haven't guessed it by now, he was socially awkward and couldn't banter on like others could. Once in a while, he made a comment or a joke that was funny, but those were just as rare as his enchantment successes. Now, he had no escape. He heard the wooden frame of the tower groan, and he saw the foam had almost reached the top. He glanced down at his robe again: yikes. His hood and cape were a magenta color, while his main robe and pants were a soft rose color; shoes a pale-morning cloud pink. The gravel footsteps were getting closer, and he had to think!

One of the options was to go into the forest; definitely not. Mobs lurked around every tree, the harsh sun shielded from their fragile bodies by the leafy branches of oak and birch. Realizing his last resort, Seto headed around to the back of the tower, seeing as there was no other place to go. He backed up and held on to the stone wall, eyes wide. The footsteps got louder, and louder, and even louder. Then, they came to firm stop with the last thunk of weight on the mixed stone, dirt, and flint. There was silence so piercingly quiet it could cut cloth. After a few crucial minutes, Seto's curiosity of whom it was peaked. Slowly but surely, he carefully peaked over the corner of the tower, and saw...

Deadlox.

It was Deadlox, headphones and all. The person in question had a strange expression as he managed to see what exactly was in the mage tower. Then, he froze, as if he felt he was being observed. Turning to face him, coffee met crimson as Deadlox spotted Seto's eye and bright garb around the corner of the building. After about ten seconds of exchanged glances, the first words that tumbled out of Deadlox's mouth were,

"Dude, why are you pink?" Seto, realizing that Deadlox could in fact see him, fully came out from behind the complex, and was faced with the task of searching for a shortcut to sum up a small story to explain his attire.

"I- er- um- you see- how are you?" He asked instead, desperate to be out of this situation. If he was actually a good sorcerer, he would have an Invisibility potion to get him out of messes and awkward conversations such as these.

"Well, we were trying out a new game, a jump map by some guy named Bodil, and were wondering if you wanted to come..." He trailed off, as if his mind was still trying to process what the heck was in front of him.

"Well- um, not to say that doesn't sound appealing, but I'm, um, busy." He said, embarrassed. He put his hand in his pocket, and began searching for an Ender Pearl, but to no avail. 'Please go away, Deadlox. Please go away!' He thought, panicking. But quiet the opposite happened. Finally, pink Seto had registered in Deadlox's head, and he broke out into a grin, and almost a laugh. Very, very almost.

"So, you can't go in your house.." Deadlox said, trailing off. Oh no. Deadlox never trailed off. Eyes on the ground now, Seto was silent. Deadlox's grin persisted, but now it was just plain embarrassing for him. "Looks like you have to come with us!" Deadlox's tone was more than cheerful, now it sounded like he had a funny joke he wanted to share with everyone. Everyone.

"But- but- " Seto stuttered, trying to get out and away. Deadlox's eyes seemed to question him, and then a playful but meaningful smirk grew in place of the grin. Seto knew that smirk all to well. He had an idea. Then, Deadlox reached up, and put a hand on his headphones, and pressed the neon green button that was cleverly hidden amongst other patches of neon green. Suddenly, it appeared Deadlox was talking to..

"Sky? Yeah, we're coming. The both of us. Oh, and Seto has a surprise." He waited a bit, and Seto watched him turn off the headphones.

"Sorry Seto, you're coming too!"

_'How did I get myself into this mess?!'_


	2. Rage Quit

"HAHAHAHAHA!" The laugh of Skydoesminecraft rang out as soon as he saw the sorcerer. He had been told over his headset that Seto had a surprise, but definitely not this.

"Ha, yeah..." Seto said, under extreme social pressure. Sky and Deadlox were the only ones with him right now; Bajan and Jerome were on their way.

"How did this even happen?!" Sky said, still laughing. Deadlox wasn't laughing, but his grin had persisted through even the walk over to the mountain where the map was located. It wasn't that far away from his house; about the walking distance from his tower to the nearest main town. As for Sky's question, he would have to answer it as best as he could.

"Well, I was um, trying to make a potion, and, uh, it sort of went... wrong." He finally managed to say, in effort to justify his position. However, this only stirred up more laughter from the duo, sending the sound across the empty land. Sky then asked another question, in between laughs and breaths.

"What happened to your house? Is it pink too?!" Seto sent Deadlox a questioning look, that was brushed off simply with a shrug. Deadlox must have mentioned something about his house, as he was talking on his headphones on the way there.

"Well...yes..." He started but was soon interrupted by another approaching duo, Bajan and Jerome.

"Hey doods, what's-" The Canadian stopped mid-sentence, and did a double take looking back at Seto. "What-" He tried to question again, but was this time interrupted by the person in question.

"It's a long story." Seto said quickly, trying to cut him short as Sky and Deadlox were starting to crack up again. Suddenly, the other two broke into grins as well, but didn't laugh, though it was almost apparent they were trying to muffle it for Seto's sake. Unfortunately, Seto noticed this. Great. "Let's just get this over with." He said, dejectedly.

"Okay, who wants to explain the rules?" Sky asked, turning his attention off of Seto. The faces looking back at him became quiet and expressionless very quickly. "No one? Do I have to pick?" Silence, but it was clear the lack of noise was already getting to some people. By some people I mean BajanCanadian and ASFJerome. "Okay, eany, meany, miny, Deadlox." He said, jumping to the back of the group.

"What? Me? Oh, alright." Deadlox said, and then his eyes wandered for a way out. They abruptly halted, as if they had found a solution, and he continued. "So, it's a jump map. You jump from one block to the next. The winner rubs their victory in the losers' faces, but everyone gets a "secret surprise" at the end, which is the peak of the mountain. You are allowed to push, shove, distract, and poke fun at your friends. Hahahaha, Bodil40." At this statement, everyone realized there were signs saying the exact words he just spoke were right behind them, a little off of the path. How come they didn't see that to begin with?

"Thanks, Deadlox. I guess we should all start at the same READY, SET GO!" Sky said, and all of them except for Seto ran to the starting line. He walked.

It was actually pretty redundant. Of course, occasionally someone got pushed off of one of the hard jumps and got upset when they splashed into the water below, only to make a quick recovery and scramble back as quick as they could. There were three zones: an iron course, a gold course, and a final diamond course. The iron was a simple, beginner track that had very easy-to-get-to jumps. The gold run was more challenging; which had sprint jumps and lava parkour. Finally, the diamond zone had sprint ladder jumps, timed jumps, which were all on pure ice blocks. If you fell into the water on any level but diamond, the water broke your fall, and there were checkpoint ladders you could use. However, if you fell in the diamond zone, the current would carry you all the way back to the iron zone; you would be forced to repeat the entire thing all over again.

Seto had slowly made his way past the gold zone; the iron zone was very easy, even for him. The top of the mountain was actually within reach now. All the others were already in the diamond zone, but no one had been able to get to the top. He didn't know this, however, as he got to the end and set his check-mark; he let loose some ladders and they cascaded down into the cool blue water below. Then, he finally entered into the diamond zone, which was actually inside the mountain.

"Ty, shut up!" Sky yelled furiously while Deadlox, A.K.A. Ty taunted him from a high jump he couldn't make. Seto shook his head, as if clearing his thoughts, and went back to putting his concentration on the most difficult jumps. It was actually a lot colder inside the mountain due to the ice. Shivering slightly, he pulled his cape around him in an effort to get warmer. It didn't help, though, as his cape was still slightly wet.

"Jerome, I'm going to kill you!" Mitch, or BajanCanadian yell as the Chewbacca-like creature pushed him off of the shiny teal platform and into the frigid water below. Somehow, knowing that the others were having troubles and worries of their own made him feel almost a little bit better about his own problems. But only just a little before the feeling was washed out as soon as he heard,

"Hey, Princess Sparkle is back!" You can guess who said that. Seto knew his friends, because these crazy people were in fact his friends, are all just messing around with him. That didn't change the fact that this all rubbed him the wrong way. Momentarily forgetting all aggressions, he went back to focusing on navigating his way to the center and up. Regardless of their value, the pillars and huge chunks of ice were actually kind of pretty, the intricate jumps only adding to the effect. You could hop behind a few blocks and discover an entire other room. In that way, it was like a specially designed maze.

After quite some time, passing a waiting Jerome, and some extra effort, he finally made it to the jump Sky had been stuck on prior. He had watched him attempt to make the jump at least twenty times. One of the few key things Seto had learned in his studies had been that observing someone or something do anything first is one of the easiest ways to learn it for yourself. After his seventy-eighth attempt, Deadlox had just teleported him up there with the special commands they were given if they were to ever get trapped or lost. Right as he was about to make his own series of trial and error, he heard Jerome about ten jumps away. He also heard Mitch, who had finally made his way back up to the top level. They must have forgotten that he was here. People did that all the time around him. Whenever he actually came, that is. Once, Quentin, or Husky, and Ssundee, or Ian had accidentally left him in a mine all alone. They only remembered him when they got back to their home because he had forgotten some of his potion bottles there. Anyway, since he was nearly invisible to them, why not eavesdrop a bit? Stopping himself from attempting the jump, he turned his focus towards the duo a little ways behind him. Then, he slowly turned in to the tune of Mitch's voice.

"-t good at all. I mean, c'mon, I'm better than him! I know he likes it and all, but he's starting to humiliate himself. Not to mention he's always alone. This is the first time he's done anything fun in what, a month? Ty said..." Seto quit his focus; he didn't want to hear anymore. He knew exactly who they were talking about. Somehow, it made him feel even more empty. He was fine, wasn't he? 'Do they think something is wrong with me?' He thought deeply. The voices were getting louder, they must be nearer to him now. Seto didn't want to see them, but he didn't think he could make the jump either. Sighing, he decided to just go back home. He peered down at the water below, and took a leap of faith, hoping the water would take him back to the beginning as it was designed.

When everyone, with the exception of Seto, made it to the top, they looked around. All they found was a lone pressure plate.

"Go stand on it." Jerome gestured to Sky, who in turn shook his head.

"Shouldn't we wait for Seto?" Sky asked, concern growing.

"Nah, he'll be fine. Let's do dis!" Deadlox exclaimed, and ran over, stepping on the pressure plate. Suddenly, the sound of armed TNT filled the air. The crew froze. Then broke into a panic.

"WE'RE GONNA BLOW UP!" Bajan yelled, but Ty quickly said,

"The teleport commands! Quick, everyone type /home!"

_BOOM!_

Another blast, not unlike the one heard previously by Seto, filled the air. Luckily, though, everyone was far away when the TNT detonated.

"That was close!" Sky exclaimed, then realized one crucial detail. "Wait, what about Seto?!" He looked up; the mountain was already gone. There was silence for about five minutes. Finally, when someone spoke up, it was Jerome.

"Maybe he left early? He could have, I didn't see him. Did you see him, Mitch?"

"Nope. Maybe. Wanna go check?" He questioned, in which the entire team nodded. Hopefully he was alright.

He was definitely not alright.


	3. I'm a Squid!

**SelenaGirl123, your wish is my command. Next chapter very early.**

Now, let's go back in the past for a bit, and catch up with our sorcerer friend.

Seto walked on the gravel road, bits of stone and flint creating a resounding clicking noise off the sole of his pink-hued shoes. It had been a while walking, but he was in such deep thought that it only seemed it had been a matter of minutes. He was still thinking about what Bajan had said prior. He had known that they said it behind his back, but this was the first time he had actually heard them criticize him. Was he really useless? He thought maybe his friends would support him; look where that ended up at. He should just give the whole thing up, and go make parkour maps or something. He was surprised when he saw the road leading up to his house.

_'How long have I been walking...?'_

He started up the road again, still at a snail's pace. Looking into a nearby river, he noticed a some squids swimming along the shore._'Lucky, they don't have anything to do. Their derpy eyes, weird complexion, and the way they stare at you- wait, what?'_ Seto stopped walking, as he noticed one of the squids just staring at him. It was rather... unnerving. He broke eye contact, and ran the rest of the way up the hill.

It was worse than he thought. The pink foam, much rather looking like pink frosting, had consumed the house And now bubbled out the windows in torrents of frothy liquid. He might as well just build a new house. Not that anyone cared. He was a failure as it is. He only had a few basics left. Some iron tools, a few loaves of bread, his magic books and the remnants of his potion stand and supplies, and they were in his tower. 'You know... it would actually be easier to leave than to stay. He could start over somewhere new. No worry, peace, solitude, and being able to actually figure out how to use magic more effectively without everyday distractions! Hopefully, anyway.' He thought, and then glanced back up at his tower and he giant mess.

Looking at it now, what was that? It had been meant to be a potion, but obviously it was something else. Now, normally, he wouldn't be as stupid as to try out a creation that he didn't know anything about, but he was tempted to this time. Honestly, it couldn't be anything terrible... well, yes it could. He poked the foam with his gloved hand, and it burst, but then re-lathered very quickly. Trying a different approach, he took his glove off of his right hand, and then touched a different spot. Same effect, except this time it did not bubble back up, and there was no negative nor positive effect on his hand. Maybe it was just an ever-expanding potion, simply growing when the vial was uncorked, and hit plain air. It appeared to be stabilized by static electricity. _'That's strange,'_ he thought, _'Science disabled Magic.'_ He'd have to write that down... oh wait. He had left his notebook in his tower, along with everything he owned.

He hasn't been able to get it prior because of the lather, but that wasn't a problem anymore. Looking at his ungloved hand, he took off his left hand glove as well, smiling for once. He touched the pink formula lightly, and it began to recede. At least he wasn't an idiot. Using this method, he made his way to the front door, without any disruptions of side effects of the potion. Why didn't he think of this before? At least it wasn't poison, then he'd have a real mess on his hands. he climbed up the stairs, slowly and surely. It almost made him feel like a real sorcerer. Almost. When he finally arrived at the second floor where he kept his supplies, tools, and potion ingredients. He carefully opened one of his most important, and only visible supply chest, and looked inside. He sighed with relief, everything was intact; nothing was covered in the failed potion. There was half a stack of iron, twenty apples, an iron pick, a stone shovel and axe, and some random logs. One of his potion bags was also there, which held everything he needed for alchemy, and his precious magic books.

He picked up the supplies and equipment and put them in the pack he carried around. It had a red creeper face on it, and he was rather fond of it. Then, he pulled the potion bag from the bottom of the chest, and gently placed it on top of everything else. If it came down to it, he would rather lose everything else he had if it were to save his arcane equipment. Feeling satisfied, and with enough supplies to start over, he began the trek down. He headed out of the room he was currently in, shutting the door behind him. Where the potion had been before he had managed to get rid of it, the wood and stone that made up the tower were stained pink. He could hear the boards creak and moan, and he knew that it could come crashing down at any second. Knowing that getting out of hear as soon as possible could mean life or death, he quickly began heading down the stairs at a brisk rate. It was then that fate decided to play a cruel joke that would haunt him and his friends forever. He was working his way down the steps when suddenly..

_BOOM!_

Yes, it was the explosion from the jump map. The force had been so massive, it had triggered a shock wave with the power equivalent of a small earthquake. He was in mid-step, and was shaken by the sudden tremor, feeling the foundation of the tower tremble and groan as a few main beams fell down into the bottom floor. Unbalanced, he fell down the remaining stairs, and unfortunately landing into the foam. When the shaking stopped, Seto tried to come to his senses and tried to get out. The thick foam was cutting off his oxygen, and he needed to breathe. Taking the remainder of his strength, he forced his way out, and grabbed his pack. Without a moment's hesitation, he flew down the corridor and out of the creaking, breaking tower. What's worse was that he had gotten some of the foam in his mouth; it tasted disgusting. You'd think that since it was pink, it would taste nice like an apple or some chocolate, but no, it tasted like sulfur and gunpowder, all sorts of terrible.

"Bleugh!" he spat as the terrible taste registered on his tongue. He wanted to throw up. However, the taste was the least of his worries. The worst part was that it was a potion, a potion he had swallowed. Who knew what it might do to him? He put down his bag, thinking he would be able to run down to the stream down the hill he had seen only moments earlier, quicker. But, taking a spare, agonizing second, he reasoned that he should take his supplies with him if his "home" decided it wanted to crumble while he was gone. He only hoped nothing would be broken. Running as fast as he could, he all but charged into the water below. Then, quickly getting on his knees, as it was the quickest way to get water in his mouth, he started shoveling in water, trying to rinse out his mouth. He could only hope he didn't swallow any of it. After all while, the taste faded slowly, but still hung in his mouth like the bitter taste of a premature apple. Speaking of apples, he decided to eat one of the twenty, as it would help with his mouth, and his stomach. He hadn't eaten all day. He grabbed, or tried to grab one out of his creeper-faced bag, but had no luck at his blind attempts. Giving up on being lazy, he opened the bag fully and in the range of his sight. He quickly found one hiding away in the bottom corner, and took a big bite, letting the sweetness of the apple overtake the vile one.

Now that the whole ordeal appeared to be over, he sat back and shuddered slightly. He wasn't going back there anytime soon. He went back through his things, and everything seemed to be in order. Even the delicate glass potion flasks appeared pristine, not a scratch on them. He relaxed, and laid down by the river to collect his thoughts, Unluckily, though, through everything he had been through today, certain words, some of his own fabrication, slipped into the crevasse of his thoughts.  
_'Worthless... pathetic... weak... useless..'_ These words drifted by as he wondered how his team truly felt about him. Was he really just a useless tag-along member of the group? He barely showed up and talked to them anyway. While he was still lost in deep thought, he didn't notice the squids had gathered at the shore, intently watching him, normally derpy eyes focused. He didn't even notice as a long, slimy black tentacle grabbed his leg.

Seto shot up out of his thoughts as the wicked pain of a thousand sharp teeth digging into his lower calf's flesh. He screamed as the pain hit him, and looked over to see a few squids trying to pull him into the stream. Panicking, he looked around for any sort of weapon he could use to defend himself with. Seeing none, he grabbed his pack, lying short distance away, and took a blow at a squid, aiming for its eyes.  
"Oww..." he heard in a monotone voice. No... it couldn't be..  
"You- you talk?!" he cried out as others took fallen, no, not dead, he fell over, squid's place.  
"The human understands us!" one of the lead squids said, which was repeated by the others in many variations. Seto hit another with his bag as the creatures came closer and closer.  
"What do you want?!" he lashed back as another tentacle did the same. Now, five more squids were in the stream.  
"That is classified!" the supposed leader declared.  
"We want to be feared, not just another stupid, dumb mob!" another voice cried out, right after the first.  
"Squiggly!" Leader reprimanded.  
"Well, you're not getting me!" Seto yelled, swinging his gear.  
"Get him!" the squid declared, and the squids rushed and jumped at him, attacking every open area of skin. Seto screamed, not just in pain this time, though.  
"HELP!"

Finally, they managed to pull him under the water. Seto fought back, hitting another, driving most of the pack away. A single tentacle pulled him back under the water before he could even process it. He squirmed furiously, losing him breath. Finally, the appendage let loose, and Seto tried to go back to the surface. The world flashed black as he swam upwards, and again, and again. He was losing oxygen. In one last desperate move, he surged forward... and passed out. The current of the stream carried him far, far away as he drifted unaware.


	4. Crumbling Consonance

If they had only been a little faster, the group would have been able to see Seto being attacked and answer his plea for help. They were almost at his house, on the path he had trod upon only mere minutes earlier. When they got to the house, though, there wasn't much left of it. The entire left side had warped inward; it was bent and crooked quite severely. And yes, it was still pink. That alone caused much hilarity as Sky, Mitch, and Jerome saw the tower for the first time. Their first reaction that was the best was Jerome's, to which he said,  
"A cotton candy castle?!" Which only caused another fit of laughter.

"Seto?" Sky called out, once he had gotten over the color of the building, and poked his head through a window. What he didn't know was that there was a wall of foam as thick as shaving cream there to meet him, and when he stuck his head out, it was covered in it. "Ugh, what is this stuff?" he said aloud, wiping it off. "Anyone found anything?"  
"Nope! It looks like we're the only ones here, dood." Bajan said, coming around from the back. Jerome was trying to be lazy, as he was turning over small pieces of wood that couldn't cover a full block.  
"Unless, you want to actually go inside that." Deadlox added, and gestured to the leaning tower of how-the-heck-is-this-still-standing. They gathered behind the aforementioned travesty, careful not to stand in the tower's shadow, while still avoiding bits of dirt, stone, and woodchips. It immediately hit them that in order to do a full search, someone was going to have to go inside. Each of the group looked at the other, and called out,

"Not it!"  
"NOT IT!"  
"NoT iT!"  
"Not- dangit."

Jerome finished the quick objections, and sighed, as he was left with the task of actually going inside, Great. The rest managed to restrain their laughter, knowing that they could have had to do the same. When he looked around from sympathy with his friends, he met only shakes of the head and Sky saying,  
"Sorry, that's how the rules work. You have to."  
"Fine, fine. I'll go."  
Walking up to the building, he found the door, which was surprisingly not covered in pink stuff. He walked in, kinda creeped out by all of the wrecked walls and floors. It turned the once-friendly tower into a gloomy, haunted house. In his mind, anyway. He saw that a gaping hole in the foam led to the stairs, almost like someone had taken a shovel and scooped it out. His fur, yes, 'baccas have fur, bristled, and he walked up the stairs.

"Hello, Seto?" he said. Hey, that rhymed! "You here? It would be nice if you weren't dead, you know."  
No response. Jerome walked up the main banister, noticing the foam stopped him from going any further. He saw a door free of the puffy potion, and opened it. He glanced around, making sure the coast was clear, and went inside. Once inside, he noticed it had the build of a storeroom. He was familiar enough with buildings to know the shape and classic design. It appeared to be empty. Hoping there was something else that he hadnt seen in the only clear room of the citadel, he desperately searched again. This time, his chocolate-brown eyes spied something strange in the corner of the den. It was a chest, lying open. He walked over to it, watching his steps carefully.

Some of the wooden planks had fallen out of their firm position, into the main living room and entrance. All of the remaining planks were loosely fit together in a clumsy mess. They croaked and groaned as he shifted his weight onto them. Making his way over, he saw the chest had already been emptied. His heart rose a little; maybe Seto had been there earlier! Finally reaching it without taking out any more of the floor, he saw there was a small notebook lying in the bottom corner. Examining the trunk, he saw the place where someone's touch had disturbed the dust on the cover and inside. It also looked like an imprint of supplies had made a dent in the woodwork. _'Had Seto taken the supplies?'_ he thought, gingerly picking up the small pamphlet.

He turned around and hopped board-to-board until he got the safety of the stairway. It looked like the entire building had been ripped, warped, and turned apart. _'Wait a second...'_ he pieced together two and two. _'Could the explosion-'_  
"Nah, no way!" he exclaimed aloud, and made his way outside, avoiding all injuries, luckily. Mitch, Ty, and Sky were... playing Rock, Paper, Scissors?  
"I'm telling you, Rock beats Gun!" Deadlox argued, upset that Sky had chosen 'Shoot'. Sky, not really wanting to get into this fight, looked around for a distraction. He saw Jerome, and said,

"Fluffy's back!" The group got off of the ground, and dusted themselves off.  
"So?" Bajan asked, to which Jerome shook his furry head.  
"Nothing. I mean, it looked like he'd been here earlier. The chest I found was empty." He paused, and took in a breath, "Except for this." He held up the small scratch pad where everyone could see it.  
"What's that?" Sky asked, to which Mitch elbowed him and said,  
"It's a notebook, idiot!" The words were harsh, but the tone was not demeaning.  
"Well, what's in it?" Deadlox asked out of curiosity. Jerome responded with,  
"I dunno. What if it's his journal or something?" Deadlox and Bajan looked at Sky and vice versa.  
"Open it! Open it!" They chanted, hoping it was as Jerome had said. They needed good blackmail material anyway. They're really like little kids, aren't they? Jerome, who seemed to be acting oddly reasonable right now, handed it over to the three chanting guys. Mitch managed to grab it quicker, as he was the tallest of the group. He hurriedly opened it up to the front cover.  
_'Property of Seto S. Do not read unless you're me.'_ There was a little note on the side too._ 'That means you, Sky.'_ Of course, they ignored them. Adam reasoned that maybe it was another Sky, or at least justified his actions with it. He knew it was just an excuse if they got caught by Seto. He had to be alive if supplies were missing from the house, right? The group turned to a random page and read:

_'Well, I'm almost done with my potion of Poision. It's taken forever to make but I'm almost done! I've been trying to find a way to stabilize the ingredients so they don't cancel each other out like they usually do, and it's looks like it's working so far. Going back through my books, I haven't found anything new. Very little is written in plain Minecraftian. What's not glyphs and ciphers is in a language I can't understand. I hope one day I can figure them out, but that day is not today. No new discoveries to report, so this entry is pointless. Oh well.'_

Confusedly, they looked up. So this wasn't a diary, but more of Seto's magic notes? Bummer. All good blackmail material is gone, but there still might be something. Deadlox turned to another random page, deeper in the book. Blank. Frustrated, he turned back a few more blank, cream colored pages and came upon Seto's latest entry. There was as much writing as the earlier one.

_'Well, another failure. It's alright, though, isn't it? No progress as usual. I'll try using another method I came up with yesterday to make an Instant Health potion tomorrow. I found a great place for gathering potion regents. Somehow, I thought it was going to be easier than this. I guess I just need to work harder. Who needs sleep anyway?'_

The trio looked awkwardly at each other. They... really weren't supposed to read that, were they? Mitch, remembering what he had said only hours prior, felt worst of all, but suppressed it. He could just apologize later, and if not, so what? He wasn't losing any sleep over it. However, Ty and Adam felt a small, sinking pit inside. Unbeknownst to each other, they made a mental note to try and tease Seto less. At least cut him some slack. When they found him, of course. Speaking of lost and found, where was Jerome? Well, he had wandered down the hill a little, leaving the others to their own devices. He was just walking along the gravel-lined path close to a nearby stream when, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something strange. At first, it seemed like it was just a patch of roses, but as he grew closer, he discovered the red color cast upon the green was actually an apple core and some vermilion stains on the fresh, green grass. With a confused look, he moved closer to the strange stains. Something was off about them. Suddenly, a sharp, metallic smell filled his nostrils. His eyes dilated in panic and worry. It was familiar, in a bad way. Sometimes, when he and Mitch dueled, one's blade would accidentally come into contact with the other's skin. Then, scarlet red stains would appear, along with the dark scent wafting up towards him. There was no mistaking what it was.

"Guys?!" He yelled up towards the hill's general direction, and caught their immediate attention. "There's blood down here!" Unfortunately, his statement was ill timed. Somehow, the wind, shifting the fragile frame and boards of the already unstable tower, as all aligned in the perfect positions.

_CREAK..._

The three at the top of the hill who had currently been looking at Jerome, looked up at the tower. Each expression changed considerably from a mixture of sadness and hope to one of wonder and panic as they saw the tower lean precariously on one side to topple over.  
"Run for it!" Sky cried out, not leaving anyone or anything to chance.  
The tower began to collapse outwardly as Sky, Deadlox, and Bajan ran from the shadow of the spire. They weren't fast enough, though, as bricks of pure stone crumbled and flew to the side in a flurry of dust, foam, wood, and cobble. Bits and pieces of stone went flying everywhere as the base of the enormous structure collapsed, shooting and firing out from the sheer force as the hit the ground at bullet-like speeds. No one can run that fast. They got caught behind the rip wave, and two were thrown forward upon impact, another sucked in further. Froth splattered everywhere, coating the landscape around its wide range in it, the residue, and the debris.

_CRASH!_

The impact of the top spiral of the tower finally registered into a sound, one that sounded as if it had come from the depths of the Nether. Everything within eyesight was covered in an inch layer of grime. The world seemed a bit greyer, a bit darker. Thankfully, the tower's collision had actually knocked most of them out of the shadow, therefore out of harms way. Other than some scratches, bruises, and a few broken fingers and toes, they were alright for the most part, with an exception for the one who had been sucked into the shadow rather than forced out. Groaning and coughing, BajanCanadian managed to sift himself clear of some of the rubble that encased him. He had been thrown few hundred feet; almost directly into the river.  
"I guess.." he coughed and took in a breath of soil-filled air, "you could really call this a.." he stopped, wheezing before continuing again, "fallout." he finished. He heard the shifting of stone not far from him, and turned to see Skydoesminecraft dusting himself off. Sky looked around, at first out of concern, but then his eyes widened when he saw the stream. Clearing his feet and checking to make sure he wouldn't stub his toe on anything, he ran and leapt in a cannonball-like position into the stream, yelling out,  
"Bubble bath!" The stream had been coated in the failed brew as well, and as a result, the potion created bubbles were it made contact with the surface.  
"Really?" Bajan asked, worried for his friend's immediate lack of concern, to which he was given the following response,  
"Says the guy that made a fallout joke!" He swam around in the stream in circles, earning a scowl from the Canadian. However, said Canadian had a second thought, remembering the old phrase: "If you can't beat them, join them." Hesitating for a second, he ran and jumped in as well, announcing,  
"Wait for me!"

_SPLASH!_

"This stuff looks like whipped cream.." Sky noted, picking up a handful as you would sea foam. Jerome, finally managing to heave a heavy piece of rubble off of him, and headed to the others. When he saw what they were doing, he said, sarcastically,  
"Hey, thanks for all the help, guys."  
"You're welcome." Mitch replied, nonchalantly. However, Jerome didn't take him lack of enthusiasm well.  
"Seto's house just almost crashed and killed us, and you're swimming and acting like nothing happened?!" he glanced around for a second, as if he was making sure it was real. "You too Sky?! What's gotten into you? Wait, where's Ty?" Sky stopped doing backstrokes, and turned to face the 'Bacca with a confused look on his face.  
"He's not with you?" His eyes began to widen in worry. Jerome shook his furry head. Almost on cue, they each heard a small, muffled noise coming from the center of a heap of rubble. Quickly, both moved as the two in the stream ran out at the speed of a pig with a carrot. Jerome didn't even have the time to worry about the fact that they helped Deadlox instead of him. Using each of their individual strengths, everyone tried to at least shift the rubble away. Jerome was able to carry away large stones, Mitch smaller ones, and Sky helped clear out the fragments. The noises grew fainter and fainter as they dug deeper down, before they stopped altogether.

When enough debris was cleared, Mitch could see Deadlox's arm. Motioning for the others to help him, he pulled. With everyone's combined strength, they managed to drag the headphone-wearer out. He didn't look so good. His arm was bent at a twisted, unnatural angle, most of his clothes were torn and had deep gashes running through his skin, but that wasn't the worst. The worst was that blood was pouring from a huge bump on his head, right above his left eye.  
"We need to get him some help!" Jerome exclaimed, and then began to try to work the headsets they all wore. They were very small, and practically nonexistent. However, the circuitry had been damaged, and nothing but static came out of the receiving end.  
"What are we going to do?!" Sky said, panicked. No one knew how to treat wounds like these. Suddenly, a voice came from near the water's edge, first startled, then smug.

"What?! More?!" The three conscious members of the party turned, and saw a blue-grey squid floating just above the foam. It's derpy eyes were focused for once, and it eyed Ty. "Weak! The humans.." it focused on Jerome, and then rephrased," things are weak! Attack!" he demanded, and more squids popped up. The trio was stunned, and were for once at a loss for words. It didn't last long, though, as they snapped out of it and looked around for weapons. They had nothing.  
"HOW DID SQUIDS LEARN TO TALK?!" Sky yelled.  
"Shut up!" One of the minor squids said, while another added,  
"Don't even try it! The last one didn't stand a chance!" Sky, eyes wide, looked over at Mitch and Jerome, and mouthed to them,  
_'Last one?'_


	5. Wake Up

Seto was still there, but he precariously hung in the balance between life and death. However, he didn't feel as if he were unconscious. To him, the world was extremely dark; silence as thick as the choking tendrils that surrounded him. It seemed like in order to save himself, he had slipped into the confines of dreams. He turned around, seemingly unaware of his own subconsciousness, confusedly. Noticing the lack of pain ementating from his leg, he looked down to see its condition. Strangely enough, the fabric coating was whole and white again, almost as if the potion fiasco and the squid attack had never happened. His mind uncomprehending, he peered through the shadows.

"Hello?" he called out, voice uneasy. His eyes darted about, and his ears perked as he heard a small rustling noise in the vast abyss behind him. Turning around, he saw in the faded distance a figure cloaked in the darkness that surrounded the both of them. Feeling a strange sensation of familiarity, his running mind's thoughts were interrupted by a sole word.

"Worthless..." a chilling, and yet hauntingly familiar voice spoke. It seemed to resonate and thrive, only growing in strength after being said. To whom the word was spoken to was undoubtedly Seto.

"What? No, I'm not-"

"You really thought you were helping them?" the voice interrupted his retort harshly. "Ha! Don't you understand yet?" It seemed to mock and almost taunt him.

"I- I am! I'm useful! I understand everything clearly!" he bit back, feeling threatened, almost vulnerable.

"Aw, your wittle fwiends." The figure toyed, but harshly moved on. "Haven't you seen how they look at you? How they barely manage to tolerate you? You're nothing to them. Pathetic." The voice spat out the last word like venom.

"I- I'm not- not path- pathet-" Seto's voice faltered, allowing the comment to pass on unchallenged. Through the gloomy mist, he thought he could almost see the person's smirk, triumphantly knowing it had gotten to him. His own face flushed red with rage and embarrassment.

"Oh really? Well, let's see what they have to say..." The outlined shadow began to step back, and was once more enveloped in the gloom it came from. Desolated, wrecked, humiliated and alone, Seto panicked. He turned around, looking for an escape route or a light he may have initially missed. Nothing, just the empty, soul-leeching darkness of an ensnaring void. He looked back again, but froze; another figure had emerged from the mist, close enough for him to recognize Sky looking menacingly at him.

"Hi, Seto. Want to play a game?" he said, words purring off of his lips delicately. Somehow, the normally innocent dialogue had been laced with an underlying tone of sarcasm, madness, and a twisted delightedness. The already panicked sorcerer's blood ran cold at the sound, shaking slightly. He hesitantly backed up, like prey attempting to escape a bloodthirsty predator. He had not taken but a few step when he abruptly stepped into a warm, flesh-like barrier. Jumping and hastily turning around, he found himself face-to-face with BajanCanadian, smiling with a sick joke on plastered on his face.

"What would happen if you were gone?" he questioned darkly, answer already clear on his face. "Nothing! You were nothing but baggage to begin with! Depressed baggage!" The murderous-looking Canadian started walking towards him, to counteract his slow steps back. He felt as if the darkness was forming invisible walls around him, as he was running out of places to escape to. Giving up on slowly walking out of fear, he fully turned and ran out of the ring he was being boxed into by Sky and Bajan. 'Why are they acting like this?' he thought silently as he ran through the murk. He could feel them running behind him, chasing further and further into the obscurity, a looming presence.

Somehow he found the shade, where one part of wherever he was simply gave way to nothingness. He turned to face his pursuers once more, trying to get a sense of bravery. Unluckily, they were there, right behind him. However, instead of just Sky and Mitch, there was also Jerome and Ty. Ty's crimson eyes seemed to glisten; looking at him as if he were a meal.

"You're dead without us." Ty stated as if it were a well-known fact. "Dead. What did you think you could do?" They advanced, closing him in. Nervously, he took a few inches back, but almost slipped at the lack of footing. Jerome brandished a diamond axe, blood already coated on the blade and stains on the sturdy wooden handle.

"Please..." he whispered, not daring to take a step further. There was no more room to flee. Either choice would only bring him pain. Suddenly, hearing a sharp cracking noise, he felt the ground give way underneath him, choosing for him. Yelling out in fear, Seto started to fall, but he managed to grab onto the only thing keeping him from the dismal plain, one hand keeping him tied to safety. He heard friends' footsteps diminish, finally abandoning him. He would have sighed in relief, had he not been in his current situation. With his last ounces of strength, he tried pulling himself up. What happened next was a blur. He felt a shot of pain spike down from his hand into his arm. He screamed, and a few of his fingers instinctively broke away from the edge. He looked up to see who had been the cause of the pain, and gasped. Instead of his "friends'" faces peering down at him, he saw the figure from only a few moments prior. Now that he could see him clearly, he recognized him immediately. How could he not? His heart stopped.

It was him.

Or at least, it looked exactly him, with a few exceptions. Mainly just one, though. His pupils were two dark, violent blood-red pupils, and his irises were as black as everything around him. Seto was too shocked to even try to regain his hold. It must have appeared on his face, because him, well, not him, smiled cruelly.

"Have you gotten the memo yet?" He said, leveling his face directly in front of his own. "We can't do anything. This feeling will never change. Our life is a lie!" Seto flinched at the words, and looked away. When he finally managed to speak up, he said his own words weakly,

"But-"

"But what?!" his counterpart sneered. Feeling a sudden strength, Seto lifted his head, and defiantly spoke,

"You aren't me." With those words, his doppelganger's face contorted into a horrified stare, but quickly shook into one of fury, and smashed his boot onto Seto's bare hand. He let out a blood-curdling howl, but even that wasn't enough to cover the sound of his finger bones crunch under the blow, and he let go, plummeting to the void below him. Seto closed his eyes and accepted his fate. He was falling, falling, falling... Then, abruptly, he felt a sharp jab in his chest, as though he couldn't breathe. He looked up, and his gaze met clear, violet eyes staring right at him. He heard a peaceful, accented, soothing voice say,

"Wake up..."

Seto choked and gasped, coughing up water. He felt the pulse of waves behind them, in all their harmony. His wide eyes opened quickly to bright, noon sunlight and shut just as quickly, stunned at its sudden presence. He coughed again, throat burning and lungs weak from carrying water. Pain shook through his body, but it was the dull, healing sting of the ocean. He looked down at the hand that had been crushed in his supposed dream. Nothing. He gave a rasped sigh of relief, and turned his focus to his leg. He was currently laying on his stomach in gritty, moist sand, not that far from the lofty branches of a nearby forest. He tried lifting it, and was able to bring it up a little, what with it screaming and burning in protest. Taking great care and caution, he gingerly turned himself off of his stomach and onto his back. Now, he was facing the ocean; it seemed to go on for chunks and chunks. There was no way he could go back now. How did he get all the way out here?

Maybe it was a mixed blessing. He did want to be far away from his... friends and have a fresh start. 'I would have preferred it a little less painful, though.' he joked to himself. He chuckled slightly, but winced as the action caused his chest and stomach to burn again. Examining to see his wounds, Seto spotted to places where his clothes, or more accurately now, rags had been torn and where his own blood spotted them. Most of them were in neat little lines where the squids had wrapped around him. The salt water had started to help some of his minor wounds, like broken skin and gashes, heal quicker. The major wounds, like his leg and his chest, would need more than simple salt water to heal. 'Now if I were and adept sorcerer," Seto thought, 'I would have been able to use my magic and books-'

His books and supplies! His eyes desperately searched around for his gear, at the very least it's remnants. He spotted a black bag with red spots wafting with the waves, and desperately pushed himself forward and up, ignoring his body's protests. He hobbled slowly over to his pack, and pulled it out of the tides' grasp. Carefully, he opened the soaking flap. Inside was wet, and most of the apples had been laying in there until they had shriveled up. The iron was coated in a fine layer of orange dust, meaning around a quarter of it was useless. He fished out his potion bag, and held his breath. Was it ruined as well? He undid the damp strings, and peered inside. Everything was in pristine condition. Somehow, the water hadn't been able to get through the tough leather. Pulling out the usable things, he laid them in the sand to dry off, and dumped the rest back into the ocean with a splash.

He slowly moved back down to sit on the sand and enjoy the view. He was alone, now. Free. He had barely any gear, but he was alive. He could build a home, explore, and work on his magic with no distractions. However, no matter how content he was right now, though, a small part still nagged him. What about the others? How were they doing?

Oh, I'm sure they're fine.


	6. A Lack of Amicability

"Is everyone else seeing this?!" Adam yelled looking around. Maybe they were dreaming, or had been knocked into hallucinations by the remnants of the tower. Jerome's eyes darted furiously around for some trick or practical joke, but nothing appeared. Mitch instinctively grabbed a sharp, albeit very splintered board, and pointed in as best as he could in the squids' general direction.

"W-what's going on?!' The voice said, bending as it hit him he was talking to a squid. The dumbest, most derpy animal every spawned. The squids seemed to glance at each other again, and the head one said,

"We don't want to repeat this again! We squids are ignored constantly! Surely you would want to say-" It was interrupted, however, by a very tired-sounding voice.

"Oh my Notch, just shut up! Why do you sound so annoying?!" Sky said, exasperated and apparently willing accept the revolutionary idea that squids could talk for a few minutes of silence. The squids seemed to flare up at his interjection, and responded with a resounding,

"This is why we must attack! So... attack!" The squid yelled in it's very placid tones, giving a signal to other squids to slowly try to move towards the group. Unlike Seto, the four weren't directly near water, so it would take the squids roughly a minute to reach them. Said group had now quizzical expressions on their faces. None of them really thought the squids would hurt them, even though the 'last one' apparently was. Jerome turned his attention from the sluggish moving squids to Ty's injury.

"Anyone think we can get him to the nearest village?" he inquired, looking down at him. Sky shook his head, and said,

"The closest place is Oakreach, awesome name by the way, but it's at least 850 blocks from here. Unless we take turns carrying him, he's not going anywhere." No one really wanted the awkwardness of having to carry him, so that was out of the question. They'd never really been in a situation like this before. Looking at the squids with the board still in hand, Mitch said,

"What do we do about squids?" The mob in question was actually quite close, still moving quite slow but looking determined. Sky let out a quick chuckle, and said,

"Those things? They couldn't hurt us if they trie- OWW!' he yelled as he felt the sharp hooks of squid tentacles whip around his legs. "I was wrong! I was wrong!" Bajan rushed forward and clubbed the squid right between the eyes, effectively knocking it back far enough where it could do no damage. The rest pounced forward, eager for their own purposes. Sky winced as he turned around; the squid had cut just under the skin, nothing serious, but extraordinarily painful. Lego painful.

"Okay... what's the plan?" Jerome asked, unaware that Adam had been attacked. To be fair, he was clumsy and did yell a lot. Not much difference there.

"The plan?" Mitch said, knocking another squid away as soon as it pounced. "Run away!" He stumbled as he turned away from the squids, just narrowly avoiding the wrath of the swirling appendages. Jerome, finally noticing the extreme danger they were in and pressure they were under.

"What do we do about Ty?!" he responded, stepping on a group rubbery feelers in the process. Sky had started grabbing misshapen chunks of stone and throwing them at any who came near. It wasn't nearly as effective as it would had been if Mitch had been throwing and Sky had the melee weapon, but now was no time to bicker over physical skill.

"Grab him and make a break for it, stupid!" Sky yelled as he missed yet another through. He'd have to work on his aim and accuracy later. Jerome, seeing only one way to sensibly bring him along, picked up both of Deadlox's arms and put them on his shoulders. This effectively made Ty a human backpack. Seeing how they were getting mobbed even heavier now that the farthest row of squids had managed to squirm towards them, he turned and ran. Seeing the 'bacca carry him away also signaled for Mitch and Sky to leave as well. They might have been able to hold them off for a little longer had not Sky accidentally hit Mitch several times in the back. Even when he was in front. But were they going to get away, just like that? No, that would be easy! Just when you thought Seto's wrecked home couldn't force any more disastrous or eventful situations on them, it did again. Never build you mage tower on top of a hollow cave system.

CRACK... CRACK...

The very ground started to open up under their feet. Thanks a lot, Seto.

"The plan isn't working!" Sky exclaimed jumping over a fissure opening up beneath them. Dirt and grass crumbled into an opening crevasse, while the cool air rushed forward, releasing itself from the darkness that it had always known. Squids began to fall into the ruptures opening up; some were simply sticking onto the ground due to their slimy texture.

"No, it's working perfectly!" Mitch barked with a thin layer of sarcasm. Now they were thankful for the parkour they had done hours earlier. That was just practice compared to this, as they leapt from block to block in a rhythmic fashion, world crumbling behind them. If they hadn't been so preoccupied with escaping with their lives, it would have looked awesome. Until Jerome slipped and lost his balance.

"Argh!" he grunted, letting out a sound in-between a cry for help and a grunt for the sudden lack of footing. Holding onto an outcrop of dusty stone, he cried "Help!" Mitch and Sky, who had seen their buddy go down, were already trying, scrambling to get him up. It didn't help that the still unconscious Deadlox was on his back, either. So when the ledge began to crumble, instead of pulling him up to them, they both got pulled down to crack.

Darkness surrounded them as they fell through the empty cave and into a much narrower crack, being effectively sealed in as the hole above them filled with the resources from above. When the shaking stopped, they found themselves trapped in a small, grimy cavity, sealed away from the main tunnels and the outside world. A fit of coughing ensued, and the cluster took a minute to adapt, as this had been the second time something like this had happened to them today. When they did speak, it was Sky first, disturbed by the uncanny silence.

"So... anyone have a back-up plan?" Putting a paw on his face, Jerome shook his head. Ty seemed fine, other than the whole "knocked out" thing. Propping him up against on of the four corners of their tiny room, Jerome started to feel for any loose rubble. Mitch stayed where he was, knowing escape was futile.

"If it wasn't for Seto, we wouldn't be in this mess!" he said, putting one of his arms squarely on his legs and resting his head on it. His checkered hoodie was slightly ripped, and he could feel his face slowly sulk down. The 'bacca currently working on a much more grainy section of the wall stopped, and asked slowly,

"Are we really playing the blame game?" If he could've seen Mitch's eyes, they would have been bland from tiredness and a foul mood. He tried to start up his argument by pointing out the disasters that had followed them since they had tried to help him.

"I mean, just look-" Rudely cutting him off, Jerome was already sick of the approaching storm. This had happened before on several occasions, but never with a person to blame. Usually it was faulty equipment or an uncomfortable bed. Saving himself the frustration of having to argue, he simply said,

"Whining's not gonna help. It's his business what he does. What do you have against it, anyway?" Mitch looked straight ahead, not bothering to respond or meet his best friend's gaze. Jerome sighed and started scratching away at the wall again. Sky, suddenly much more interested in the conversation, asked Jerome,

"Where did he even get the magic idea anyway?" Not looking away from what he was doing, he responded with an unsure tone.

"I think he has some books or something..?" Strangely enough, Mitch's hoarse voice choked through his moodiness, and he quickly answered Sky's question.

"Yeah, he has all this crazy stuff he took from a library." he stated as if it were as simple as shoveling dirt. Sky, surprised at this new information, asked,

"Really?"

"Yep. It's supposed to be really old too." He responded, keeping his dull tone up. Jerome felt a little mixed up; he had never heard this information. Why would the Canadian tell Sky and not him?

"Burning libraries are an unreliable resource for magic, Seto! You should know that!" Sky proclaimed, as if Seto was trapped down here with them. Then, a confused look appeared on his face. Turning his head to look at Mitch, he asked,

"Wait, how do you know that?"

Mitch immediately became extremely interested in his shoes.

"Whatever. The real question is: how do we get out of here?" Jerome heard Sky say as he kicked the wall. Turning to face or at least see him in the darkness, he replied.

"I.. can't find a way that's not buried enough so we can dig." he said hesitantly.

"What does that mean?" Sky's inquisitive nature got the best of him.

"We're trapped."


	7. Eventide Encounter

Well, now that the worst was behind him, Seto decided it was time to set up a base, or at the very least a temporary camp. Unfortunately, Seto wasn't a naturalist, or used to living off the land at all. In fact, the last time he had been in the wilderness shortly after the... incident. Trying to dissuade painful memories from bubbling up to the shore of his mind, Seto hobbled into the woods. Quickly assembling a crafting table, and gathering up the necessary materials, he split and spliced some of his iron and wood into three tools. Taking the pickaxe, axe, and shovel, he left the table behind, as he could just make another. Now he was starting to get back on his feet.

Well, not physically. He was still in pretty bad shape. Though, his leg had stopped bleeding, but it was still very painful and sore. He didn't even want to look under the fabric to see its condition. As for his chest, it was so sore it hurt to breathe. Judging from the more severe pain coming from his right side, he was willing to wager he had broken a rib. Great, just his luck. However, despite his obvious misfortune and injuries, he was going to get through it. Somehow. Walking over to the edge of the beach again, he put the newly created spade to good use as he dug up some dry sand. He would be needing new potion vials soon, and he wasn't planning on going near the water anytime soon. His blood ran cold at the thought of them pulling him down again into the darkness...

No, bad thoughts. He had to concentrate! After he was done filling one of the outer pouches with sand, he shifted the newly filled bag, he started moving, intent on finding some above ground stone. He wasn't exactly willing nor fit to go on an underground expedition. High time he left the beach, anyway. The forest in itself was a bit of an over exaggeration. It was just lining the coast, and the trees were spaced out so evenly and scarcely that you could just about build a house between them! Trying to walk a evenly and as painlessly as possible, he walked past the few that lay in border from the ocean to the land. Behind them, there were long, grassy plains that seemed to stretch as far north as the human eye could see. To his left, or the west, was a snow biome in the distance. An awkward transition, but it wasn't his call. To the east, there was an expansive jungle biome. He could almost make out a figure or shape above the tops of the trees there, but it was too blurry from the distance he was at. He didn't have any intention of going to the jungle, as he was easily tangled up in the vines and lost beneath the thick leaves.

Deciding to take a second and rest, because his wounds were already becoming blistered and painful again, he sat down on the grassy floor beneath one of the oak trees ringing the ocean. Unhanding the pickaxe and shovel in his hands, he set them aside; close enough to reach but far enough to not disturb him. Now would actually be a good time to look through his books again, since he wasn't planning on moving for a while. Flipping open the cover of the creeper-faced messenger bag, he quickly found the leather bag that contained them. Pulling a random one out, he turned to a page decently placed the center, and racked his brain for any way to help him understand them. There were a few notes on the side in plain Minecraftian, but they were mainly warnings. All the things he would actually need to know were in some weird dialect or code. Looking at the page, he only became more confused:

_'En av de farligaste delarna av lärande magi driver dig förbi dina egna gränser. Det är den absolut enklaste sättet att dö eller lamslå dig själv. De flesta start lärlingar bör försöka bara enkla trollformler, som levitation eller överföra energi. Det finns ett undantag från denna regel, och det är sällsynt, men inte ovanligt, är överflödet. Dessa dödliga vågor av energi hända på de med mer än mängder av ren energi och naturliga talang. Dessa kan orsaka enorm smärta och svarta outs, vilket kan leda till döden av en användare. Tack och lov, men det finns sätt att undvika detta öde. Ett sätt, men inte den bästa metoden, är att ge upp den magiska förmågan beviljats en användare. Det andra sättet, och den absolut bästa, är möjligheten att göra en vanlig, vardaglig apparat i en Breaker. En brytare kan begränsa den mängd av energi, eller mana, en gjutmaskin vändningar. Detta kan spara en användares liv.'_

Leafing through to other pages and various diagrams, he sighed. This was impossible to understand. Closing the book, he carefully placed it in between the others, and pulled the drawstring tight, effectively sealing the leather bag, making it waterproof. Getting up, he grabbed the two iron tools and positioned the messenger bag over his shoulder so it would stay on. Anyone with common sense would flee on sight once they saw him. He must look like a complete mess. Once he was ready, he trudged forward with the full intention of setting up camp in the plains when-

'Wait, what am I thinking?!' Seto realized, noticing the sudden fading sunlight. 'Monsters! How could I be so stupid!' Night had almost arrived, and he had read himself into a death sentence. To make matters worse, he had forgotten to craft one of the most essential tools ever: a sword. Thinking fast, he supposed he could use the iron axe he had crafted to gather wood later on, He picked it up, out of the satchel, but it just felt... wrong. Too heavy, unbalanced, and stiff for him to think of using it for any other than its main use, not to mention that it felt far too awkward. for his liking. But, it would have to work, as he saw the last light of day trickle across the sky, only to fade into rich blues with the tiny gleams of starlight. He immediately moved further into the tree line, away from the open fields where it would be easy for the incoming monsters to target him. Even though moving quickly wasn't on his agenda, he would have to make it fit. He could already hear the hiss of monsters and eye sockets watching him. A zombie's moan, the sickly movement of a spider, and the rattle of bleached bones of warriors long dead filled the darkened plain with a chorus of nightmares.

Why- no, how had he forgotten to make a sword?! Doing a quick check for creatures already targeting him and seeing none, he wondered, 'Can I make one right here?' as his anxiety had peaked. He was back at the shore again, but he was definitely not going back into the ocean, no matter how bad things got or how it could help him. Strategically and physically. Grabbing together a bit more of his precious resources, he established a crafting bench, having not grabbed the one he used prior. His hands shuffled to fuse together the sticks and iron when-

HISS...

Creeper! His reflexes kicked into overdrive as the foreboding sound scraped through the air. He managed to jump away as the green kamikaze hit its natural self-destruct button. He survived, thankfully, though landing rather painfully on his side and having the air knocked out of him for a minute, but the tree and crafting table weren't so fortunate. He shoved himself off of the ground, forcing himself to get up and keep moving. Today hadn't been a good day, but he'd be lucky if he managed to survive the terrors of the night, and luck hadn't appeared to favor him so far. Hearing the other cries and screams of the monsters surely rushing towards him, he pushed himself to keep going and moved as quickly as possible. Taking out the iron axe, his only current means of defense, he shifted it into his right hand, carrying the rucksack in his left. It was the best he could do in his current situation, no matter how uncomfortable it seemed. He would have to rest eventually, or play the worst case scenario game. All he had to do was go a little further, walk a little farther, move a little quicker, and work a little harder. His body seemed to object, though. He was tired, sure, but he could always sleep later.

Seeing an upcoming zombie, he swiftly delivered a blow to its stomach, making it topple over and resulting in a groan from him. As more mobs crowded him, he tried to pick up the pace. Just a little faster, just a little faster! He had no idea what direction he was moving in, as he was constantly looking around him, trying not to become zombie chow, while avoiding the gaze of wandering Endermen. A skeleton took a shot at him, successfully sinking an arrow into his right shoulder. Adding that to his list of ever-growing injuries, he turned to face it, only to see a plethora of mobs headed straight for him. Making a risky move to take out the skeleton and prevent further harm, he threw the axe into the crowd. The blade landed in its skull, taking the creature down. Only twenty more to go. Looking ahead and running were his only options now. Terror rising, Seto made himself run faster. Seeing an upcoming biome as the only way out, he made a risky move and veered towards it.

Bad move.

It was the jungle, vines ensnaring the very trees that rimmed it, signaling no return. Because it was his only option and his other tools were in the bag at his waist, he made a beeline for the trees, jumping into the rifts of confusion and green, each complimenting each other in the jungle biome. Admittedly, the monsters were slowed down the by the vegetation, but he was too, adding that onto his restraints. His vision started to go blurry as he ran at his continuous pace. They were gaining on him, slowly but surely, and he was wearing out. The jungle turned into a solid green, and he stumbled, falling into a small pool of water. Scrambling back out, he tried to run, but his body wouldn't respond. He was too tired. Suddenly, through the green, he thought he could see a faint torch light. Tumbling his way towards it, he could practically feel spider feelers on him. Finally, his body gave up. He collapsed, but not after hearing something. The unsheathing of a sword, and the cries of pained mobs.

He blacked out.

**Minor Author's footnote here. If you want to know what the book says, because yes, it's not just gibberish, I suggest you play around with Google Translate for a bit.**


	8. Auric Amulet

"What do you mean, "we're trapped"?" Sky asked, standing up. Now that everyone's eyes had been accustomed to the darkness for a while now, and he had taken off his shades, he could see the bacca facing the wall, head leaning against it. Now that he had recovered his own footing, he understood how small their confinement was.

"We're trapped! Stuck in here! We can't get out!" Jerome retorted harshly, kicking the solid stone wall. He didn't even bother to react to the pain of the kick, even though he had rather hard. As he said this, though, they heard small rustling noises in the far left corner. Looking over, they saw pale red eyes, wait, scratch that; a pale red eye look back at them.

"Where... are we?" A newly awoken Deadlox asked as he saw their figures in the corner. He rubbed his eyes vigorously, clearly trying to adjust to the dramatic change in light. No one moved, as if fearing something would happen, and all stayed silent. Except for Adam.

"Ty! You're alive!" Sky cheered, seemingly forgetting their plight. "We thought you might have died for a second, and then Jerome had to carry you an-."

"Slow down for a second..." Ty interrupted, looking around, still dazed. He could barely make them out, and his head was throbbing, it hurt so bad. Confused, he felt around, as if expecting it to be a prank, which altogether wasn't that remarkable, to be honest. He tried to get up, but stumbled and fell again. The silent vigil between the other two occupants in the cave snapped as they moved over towards him, hoping he was alright. Putting a hand to his forehead, he realized he had been knocked out, and instinctively felt for his headphones. Once his fingers brushed past them, he stifled a small sigh of relief, though it was unnoticeable to the other three currently in the same conundrum as him. "What happened? Why is it so dark?" he finally asked, simple priorities aside.

"Do you remember what happened?" Jerome questioned uncertainly, events of the past half hour replaying in his mind as he asked so. Sky glanced at him for asking, but shrugged it off as a precaution in regards to mental damage.

"No, not really... let me think." Deadlox responded slowly, piecing together the events, hoping to bring him to some sort of reason as to why they were in the darkness. "We looking for Seto, and went to his house- no, tower..." Mitch nodded, both confirming and encouraging him to go on. "It started to collapse... and then it all just goes black."

Jerome and Mitch looked at each other, silently confirming what the other had heard, while running the possible scenarios through their heads. Would he really believe them if they said that they had been attacked by squids? Some things were better left unsaid; this was one of them. In sync, they both looked over at Sky, who had been thinking to himself. Seeing their gazes, he nodded once, silently agreeing with them. Meanwhile Ty shifting his memories, trying to connect them to their stony solitude.

"Well... the tower shook the ground, which broke into a layer of caves. The ground split; now we're trapped." Sky said briskly, trying to make it sound as reasonable as a situation like theirs could while also leaving out the squids. Ty looked at him for a second, almost questioningly, but seemed to unconsciously accept the facts and go back to his injuries. For the most part he was alright, aside from his forehead which ached like a lava burn, and his foot, which must have been jammed into something here or there while escaping.

"I leave you guys alone for five minutes..." Ty tried to joke, finally getting up steadily. "So, we're stuck?" He asked again, teetering slightly, favoring his left foot. He leaned back against the wall again, and looked around. "...What's that?" he asked, motioning towards the spot where Sky had been sitting. The three looked back, and saw something wedged in between two pieces of stone. Even in the small amount of light they had, they could see that something was definitely different with the wall in the area it was stuck. The stone on top was a lighter color with a slightly weathered look, signaling that it was from the over world. The one below it was much darker, and smoother to contrast, showing it had never seen the light of day. When everything collapsed, it must have already been in some layer in the ground in order to be fixated in such a manner. Seeing how it was the only error in a flawless trap, they moved towards it, to see exactly what it was and if it could help them.

Moving closer, Adam could see it was small, squarely-shaped, and nothing that really looked like it could help them. A pick or a shovel seemed to have been asking for too much. With a disconcerting sigh, he thought he may as well try to pull it out, just for the heck of it. It might actually be a small piece of something else; you should never judge by initial appearances. Still curious, Mitch and Jerome hung behind him, almost cautiously, with Ty still against the wall, not willing to move. Gripping whatever it was, he yanked it out. It slipped out easily from the cracks in the stone, but unfortunately, it made the cracks widen, along with the eyes of everyone near them. Sky didn't even pay attention to the piece of metal in his hands as their small cave ruptured and broke, leaving them to fall again.

"Look out!" Ty cried as the ceiling broke and crumbled. They were literally in between two different pieces of stone; if they couldn't get out, the sediment above them would crush and suffocate them. A big piece fell, dividing each of them again, this time into the two different sections of the cave. However, the ceiling wasn't the only thing beginning to crumble. The floor slide and shattered to combat its top, causing the four Minecraftian caught in the geological battle to fall, and slip into a crevasse that it was creating. Why was the ground so unstable?!

Mitch and Ty were caught on one side of the gap, as Jerome and Adam mirrored them on the other edge. None of them could see an end to the sinkhole that had opened up, and none could hold on as chips and bits of the stone was constantly being flung at their faces. Slowly, four pairs of hands slipped from the edge, and all of them fell lower into the world that they were supposed to be in control of. It was Deadlox that let go first, mostly because of his lack of upper body strength. Sky followed suit, but his main reason was a rock that had jammed itself in between his fingers, and he was still clinging on to the trinket in his right hand. Mitch and Jerome looked at each other once their friends fell, and both let go to fall with them, as it was futile to hang on. After all, if your friends fall, you should too, right?

They didn't fall for very long, as they had the first time. They hit some more stone, believe it or not, and all sort of piled on each other, Ty being the unlucky one on the bottom. As it had done the first time they fell, again, the cavern sealed itself up: there was no going back. Squirming, Deadlox managed to free himself of the bundle, and the tower of crafters fell, no one truly hurt from the descent.

"Where are we?" Mitch asked, brushing the rubble off of him, again. Adam stood up, and looked around. There must have been a light source nearby, because it was much easier to see than in the little hole they had been in. He realized he had left his shades above, and kicked at the ground. They were probably shattered into a million pieces, waiting for some poor, unfortunate miner to cross their path and cut. On the topic of people finding things in rock, he looked to see exactly what he held, as Jerome helped Ty get up, and they all looked around.

It was a dull, nearly broken pendant, gold framing the edges of rough purple cloth. A simple black string hung limply from it, showing that it was supposed to be tied on. Upon further inspection, there was a small metal clasp that held it together. Very primitive or extremely rough craftsmanship; not something that anyone would actually wear, in his mind. It seemed almost something a kid would wear. It was basically trash, but for some odd reason, he didn't want to throw it away. Slipping it into his right pocket, he looked around himself. It appeared to be a cave system, as he saw about three different tunnels. He paled slightly; what if they had left him behind?

"Hey, guys?!" he called out, as an echo rang through the system. Thankfully, he heard Jerome's voice from one of the southern tunnels, and he ran to the party, not really making sense of what they were saying. Sliding down the rocks on stones, he met up with them, all staring out of a socket in the wall. Confused, he walked up to them. Ty looked around, hearing his footsteps, and said,

"You need to see this." They inched away from their positions, and he saw that they weren't staring through a hole in the wall; they were the hole in the wall. Ores and minerals adorned the sides of it, almost frame-like. But that wasn't what they were focused so keenly on, no, that was what it lead to.

A city, made of logs, wood, and stone, was built in the cavern. This was not using the word city, lightly, though. It was almost a metropolis, expanding and stretching for as far as the eye could see. A wall of stone and fences rung around the city, practically worn from being unused. Chunks of the cavern seemed to have fallen into some of the homes, penetrating the simple wooden roofs. However, what was the most impressive of all was what rested squarely in the center of the city: a palace. Not just any palace, mind you, but one made out of gold, with edges of emerald trimming it. Iron beams rooted it to the ground, bearing the weight of the rich delights it bore. Diamond blocks were cut into window frames, and lapis divided floor after floor. It truly was a sight to be seen.

"Woah... what is this place?" Sky asked, eyes widening. Had it not been so lonely or empty, it would have been a beautiful kingdom. Jerome shook his fluffy head, and responded,

"I- I don't know. It's so... amazing." Staring at each other, they all got the same idea, and moving out of the crag, they headed down to it, almost speechless. Sturdy iron gates marked the entrance of the desolate place, sending a foreboding presence through the air. They were partially destroyed as well, so they simply walked inside. The gravel roads were slightly uneven, as if covering something... unpleasant. Buildings, taller than almost imaginable, stood tall and proud, if not a little overgrown by vegetation or worn by ages.

"This is creepy." Jerome said, obviously thinking again. "Why is this here? The houses have windows, so they must have had sunshine. It's like the whole domain just... sunk into the ground."

"No idea, biggums." Mitch answered, not bothering to face him. "No idea." Ty, being eerily, decided to look up and see if there was any reason as to why it was here. What he saw wasn't what he expected, but he was overjoyed when he saw it. Light broke through the cavern as the sky shown on the lost city for the first time in years. The tremors must have shaken the ground, unearthing it.

"Guys, we have a way out!" he said, looking back to them. They shook the images of the town out of their heads as the looked up, and saw the deep blue afternoon sky.

"Let's go!" Adam cheered. "We can probably climb up; just a little bit of parkour!" The other three nodded their heads in approval, and they started looking for a way to jump up. Mitch, successfully finding an adequate one for their purposes, called them over, and they began their ascent back into the overland. However, Ty hesitated, and looked back at the city.

"Weird..." he said to himself. "This is almost... familiar."


	9. Meet the Captain

Seto jerked awake as the light pierced through his eyes. He was lying on a simple bed with just a pillow under his head, beneath a window in a room made of what appeared to be oak planks. Shifting up, he groaned as the night's events played back in his head. A water-soaked woolen cloth fell off of his forehead as he did so. It was still slightly heated, probably on account of being changed once or twice through the night. Playing the fuzzy memories dancing through his subconscious, he remembered running toward torchlight and the cries of dying mobs. Someone had saved him, and that someone had at least a little survival- no, a lot of survival experience, evident by his treatment. At least they weren't some cruel warlord who would kill him during his sleep. It appeared luck had been with him after all. Once he had moved from lying down to sitting on the bed, he took a look out of the window, moving closer to it in the process.

"Woah!" he exclaimed aloud as he backed away again. He must have been at least two hundred blocks in the air, just seeing how far away the ground was. He glanced out again, this time noticing branches sprouting out from under the room he was in. He must be in a tree, then. 'Do trees grow that tall naturally?' he mentally questioned as he saw that the other trees greatly dwarfed in size compared to the one he must have been in. The room in itself was nothing special; a bookcase, some chests, a simple woolen carpet, and the bed he was sitting on currently. Something on the wall was partially covered by a large piece of fabric, most likely a painting or a drafty hole in the wall. Nothing in the room seemed to indicate a threat, unless it was subtle enough to avoid his intial overlook, which it may have been. He wasn't exactly the most perspective of people right now.

He took an experimental first step off of the bed, but he was bombarded by sudden dizziness. He had stood up too quickly, and blood rushed to his head, forcing him to almost fall back down onto it. After waiting a second with his head hanging down, he took an experimental, albeit much more cautious step up, and this time he felt no ill affects. Striding over to the door and giving it a confident push, he was hit with a blast from the elements as the wind almost knocked him over again. This only confirmed what he had been thinking, though. He was hundreds of blocks in the air, high enough to catch the brunt of the wind's force, obviously not high enough to avoid it. He shut it in one fluid motion, almost slamming it against the frame. The room was apparently constructed very well; whoever built it knew what they were doing, as it blocked out the chilly air with some well placed planks. Not planning on leaving anytime soon, he decided he would examine the room a bit more.

The carpet was a thin, dry green, almost as dull as the grass that grew on the edges of a desert. Worn from use, perhaps? Opening one of the chests, he found it filled with cobblestone and dirt, before turning to the other one. Nothing much in it, with the exception of some cloth that matched the one that had been on his forehead when he awoke, and a broken headset. Walking over to the bookcase, there was nothing special on it. Some guides for establishing houses and general buildings with strong foundations, along with some songbooks. His attention wavered to the object on the wall, still concealed by cloth. With a still curious mind, he stepped to it, and slowly pulled off the cover. What he saw surprised him, as it was much different than what he was expecting.

A long, narrow mirror hung from the wall loosely, as if put on quickly, only to be forgotten again. Long cracks broke into almost a perfect reflection of him, running jaggedly from the epicenter, which was towards the top right corner. It would have been in pristine condition if not for the cracks and fragments missing, and it was set in a plain wooden frame. When he saw his reflection, it startled him; his once nice, white robes were drenched in pink and stains of grey and black. His right leg was a darker reddish-brown, as well as stripes along his chest, evidently from the blood that had seeped through. His face was pale in some places, while almost sunburnt in others, and his eyes were simply dull and tired with long, dark circles running under them. In short, he looked terrible. Then, the door abruptly opened, filling the room with the frigid air. As he turned to see what had caused it to open, he was met by something much more contradistinctive. A man with black hair and slightly tanned skin stepped into the room, shutting the door behind him. He was wearing a black vest or drape, and a white shirt with black pants and shoes. Red-rimmed sunglasses covered his blue eyes slightly, and he smiled.

"Well, you're up!" he said cheerfully, "A little while ago, I thought you were gone! Dehydrated, exhausted, and with a broken leg, rib, and arrows in you! Almost a miracle you're still able to walk." he paused, and then set down a bucket of water that he had been carrying behind him on top of a chest. He set down a small glass steadily, and filled it halfway, passing it to Seto. He eyed it carefully, but reasoned that if this stranger had wanted him hurt, he could have done it while he was asleep. He drank it, and realized just how thirsty he was. He passed the cup back, which was filled again and exchanged. The man began to talk again, and asked, "How did you get out here? You look like you've gone to the Nether and back."

When Seto was done drinking his third cup of water, he stopped, and said, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." This earned a small chuckle from the man, and he passed another glass of water to him. Pulling a cooked pork chop and an apple out, he set them onto the chest with the rest of the vitally-needed supplies.

"Well, I've seen crazy things too, and you look like you have a story to tell. So, how did you get so beat up?" Seto set the empty glass on the chest for the final time, and started to pick up the pork chop, but stopped. He would have to explain, and he didn't want to do it with a mouth full of food. He looked up at the stranger, and said,

"First, tell me your name. I wouldn't want to keep talking to someone when I don't even know their name." The man grinned again, but it was a warm, welcome one, unlike those in one of his nightmares.

"Of course. I'm CaptainSparklez, but most just call me Sparklez. Who are you?" Such a nonchalant question, but it stirred up several thoughts in Seto's mind. 'Should I lie? Maybe a false name, just in case?' he wondered, and then shrugged it off. He had been treated nicely so far, and there was no reason not to. Sparklez reached out his hand, expecting a handshake. A smile tugging at his lips, Seto shook it, and said,

"Seto. Technically SetoSorcerer, but that's another story. So, what do you want to know?" He was feeling much better now that he had something to drink, so now he was ready to talk. They had positioned themselves so each of them was leaning against a wall, so there was no need for either of them to move. Sparklez paused for a moment, and then asked,

"Where are you from? I haven't seen you around here, ever." Seto thought for a moment, but not whether he should lie or not. He didn't really know what to call where he lived, so he answered him with,

"...in the middle of no where, I guess. There's a town pretty far away from my tower, where I used to live, but I don't know the name of it." At the word "tower" and "used", Sparklez's face scrunched up in confusion, before hastily asking,

"Used to live? Did you leave or something?" Seto cringed slightly, remembering, while he was going to leave, it hadn't exactly been his choice, not to mention that it hurt.

"Well... yes. But that's where you'll stop believing me." he finished, looking at the floor. Squid attacks weren't exactly considered normal, in his book. Even if this guy had seen a lot of things, talking squids were way up there on the crazy list.

"Try me." Sparklez said, waiting patiently. It seemed like he wouldn't give up, and after a few minutes, Seto sighed. There was no getting out of it, so he may as well start talking.

"There were these... squids. I didn't notice them at first, but they started talking, going on and on about how they didn't want to be at the bottom or a score to settle. Something like that." He paused, and looked back at the Captain. He seemed intrigued, but not beyond belief of him. Somehow, it made him feel better. "They attacked me, and somehow dragged me into the water. I couldn't breathe... and I woke up on a beach." he concluded, looking back up at the person he had been talking to. Instead of looking at him weirdly, he seemed to be thinking the scenario through.

"That's... really interesting." he said, still thinking. "Squids? I wouldn't have thought." he acknowledged aloud. "Especially the talking part. Anyway, what did you mean when you said your name was 'technically' SetoSorcerer?" Seto looked down at his all but destroyed clothes, and said,

"I was trying to study magic before I left." he said quickly. Hopefully, he wouldn't stay on that subject long. That hope was shattered though, when Sparklez tried to ask,

"But why are you no-" He was cut off when Seto snapped another quick response, rather defensively.

"Because I can't do anything magic related, okay?" Seeing the signs of a tricky subject, he stopped pressing, and instead said,

"Alright. Well, it will take your leg a little while to heal, and I think you should stay here a little while. I don't want to hear some creeper caught you off guard." Sparklez picked up the now almost-empty bucket, and starting moving for the door. Seto, confused, tried to ask him,

"Does that mean I can stay?" he asked cautiously. Sparklez's face softened, and he replied,

"Sure. You can help out with some things while you're here, but I think you should try and sleep some more. You're still tired, I can tell." With that, he opened and closed the door behind him carefully, leaving almost nothing with the exception of the pork chop and apple on the chest. Sitting back down on the bed, Seto sighed a breath of relief. CaptainSparklez seemed nice enough, especially so to let him stay here for a while. He was tired, as he had so keenly observed, and he laid back down, almost immediately falling into a dreamless sleep.

He was going to be okay. For a little while, anyway.


	10. And So It Begins

"Husky!"

"FISH!"

"Mudkip!"

"Quentin!"

Four voices pierced through the sleepiness of a nearby town, each in search of the same person, though using different names. The normally quiet village quickly snapped out of its tranquil trance as the owners of those voice trampled in as noisy as a herd of cattle. Residents peered out of the windows of their small yet cozy wooden homes, only to be met with panicked faces and worried expressions. Older residents of the town rolled their eyes at the display; the seven youngest residents were always obnoxiously loud and destructive. A wooden door at the opposite corner of the village opened slightly, as the person, or rather creature inside had only faintly heard the chorus calling for him. That quickly changed, though, as the voices grew louder and stronger in magnitude, reverberating towards him. The same door was suddenly swung ajar as HuksyMudkipz, with a very confused look on his face. He knew exactly who was calling his name, and it was never a good thing when they did. The last time such a thing had occurred, Deadlox had found himself some TNT and decided to take the opportunity to try to blast his way to the Aether. The farthest he got was a mountain, where he was stuck for three consecutive days. It would only make sense to prepare for the worst when Sky, Deadlox, BajanCanadian and ASFJerome came running up to his doorstep. He had wanted to go to the lake today, too. He walked out of his house and onto the gravel road that poked and prodded at his softer feet, and waited before seeing them jog up to him, faces red.

"What did you do?" he asked, hoping yet knowing he was going to regret it. The four stopped abruptly in front of him, coughing. They weren't exactly the most agile of the bunch with maybe the exception of Jerome, but even him with all his bacca strength and shape was out of breath. When they recovered, they looked at him for a few seconds, saying nothing, before erupting into a conundrum of possible explanations.

"There was this crazy jump map we tried out-"

"-a cave with an entire city in it!"

"When we realized Seto wasn't at his tower we-"

"Our headsets broke and we were trapped in this tiny-"

"Will everyone be quiet so I can actually know what the problem is!" his monotone voice chided, silencing them once more. Looking at them again, he asked, "Ty, what's going on?" The brunette was quiet at first, as if thinking something over, and then replied,

"I have no idea." Husky fought the urge to smack his flipper onto his blue and orange face. Jerome and Mitch were just fidgeting around while Sky was just sort of shocked at Ty's response. He asked again in a trying manner,

"Adam, what's going on?" To which said person's face lightened up, as if given verbal permission to talk all he wanted. At least he would get some answers this time. Hopefully.

"We were trying out this new parkour course in a Glitch Zone, and Ty was running a little late. After about ten minutes, he messaged me, saying that he had a surprise or something. Him and Seto both showed up, which was strange because I thought Seto didn't like parkour. Anyway, after a while and a lot of jumping, we all made it to the top, minus Seto. When the whole thing blew up, Mitch thought he might have left early, so we went to his tower to find him." He took a breath to continue, meanwhile everyone else felt the true urgency except for Husky, who couldn't have picked a worse candidate to relay the news if he had tried. Oh well, here we go again. "He wasn't around the tower, though it was pink, and Jerome went inside to look for him. Turns out we was there, but he had left, and all that was inside was this journal thing that we may or may not have accidentally read. Jerome called us over because he'd found blood stains or something like that. The tower collapsed on us, knocked out this guy-," He elbowed Ty, and continued, "before we were attacked-"

"Sky!" Mitch said, but it was too late; everyone had heard. Turning back to look at him again, Deadlox asked,

"Attacked? What happened? Why didn't you guys tell me?!" He said, slight anger revealing itself in his tone. Husky only looked confused, trying to make sense of Adam's fast-flowing mouth. "Who were they? Did anyone get hurt?" he quickly added, concern filling him. The three looked awkwardly at each other, before Jerome jumped in and said,

"It was pretty quick, and we fought them off. That was when the earthquake started-" This time, Husky interrupted, clearly done processing the first bit of the wild tale.

"Wait, stop. Who attacked you? Random people just don't pop out of no where, right?" This time, Sky came to Jerome's defense, desperately trying to fill in the loose blanks without sounding crazy.

"It was this small band from an army, I think. They just threatened-" Once again, the Mudkip cut them off, pressing for more answers. What had they gotten themselves into? A war?!

"Threatened us? Does that mean the village is under attack? Should we get the village guard up and running again? If you guys angered another town again, we can't recover!" Shaking his head, Mitch replied slowly,

"They were just a bunch of outsiders, only slightly trained in attacking. We fought them off, earthquake, let's get on with it." A stunning and surprising comment, but it hit its mark, and allowed Adam to start talking again. Husky seemed to have accepted the explanation, but the look in Ty's eyes told Mitch it wasn't over yet. All because of some derpy squids. Taking what might be his last chance to finish his original story, Sky continued on,

"After the earthquake, we fell down into one of the holes and got trapped. We talked for a little bit, Ty woke up, and we escaped by pulling on some rocks." He excluded the bit about the amulet to avoid another controversy and long list of explanations. He could still feel it in his right pocket, pure gold. "That was when we saw one of the main reasons we ran all the way over here. We found a city, an entire city, underground." Finally finished, he felt a little pride, and allowed himself to exit the discussion and the sure flurry of questions that rapidly followed. Another second of painful silence chipped away, before Quentin groaned, and said,

"We're going to need a new village guard to investigate this. If there's any danger, we drop out, immediately." He said, putting careful emphasis on the word immediately. "But that's side tracking from the main purpose. What happened to Seto?" Some nervous laughter was coughed up, as Jerome glanced away from him, saying,

"We.. we don't actually know..." Quentin froze slightly, and let out a sigh; these four were digging themselves into a hole they couldn't get out of. If anything had happened to them, honor code stated that it was their fault, even if they had nothing to do with it. They all knew this, of course. Every kid that grew up in the village or in one with a similar set up was taught the honor code, sword drills, and basic attacks to ward off the monsters of the night. He was a slight exception, as he was newer to the town than most, and this stuff was only now being drilled into his head.

"We need to find him too. Honor code, remember? Anyway, let's go find Ian, probably at the bakery, and explain this mess to him. No matter what you got yourselves into, we're with you." He said reassuringly. Their faces relaxed; they had broken several rules today. Don't journey alone, never test the Glitch Zones, the list went on and on. For now it appeared as though they might be let off the hook, if the city proved to be worth investigating. The squids could be dealt with later. Nothing more truly had to be said; each member of the ever-expanding group simply looked at each other, and they all knew what had to be done. Being much more careful and considerate, they were much quieter walking down to Ian's house; Sky lead the way, and it was where he wanted to check first. No matter how much Ssundee loved cake, he wouldn't go that far from home. Quentin endured as sharp pieces of flint spiked against his sole, mentally cursing himself for not getting his grey shoes.

When they arrived at his house, only a few lanes down from where they had been, Mitch knocked, and everyone else stayed behind the fence. It was a forced habit, more or less. No one knew if he was in one of his little moods, and even the slightest notion could disturb him then. It was the main reason Ian didn't receive that many visitors, but they had learned to cope with it. Hesitantly, the door opened from the inside, revealing Mr. Sunglasses himself. He smiled slightly upon first glance, but he became more and more confused when he noticed their own expressions.

"...what's going on?" He asked hesitantly, unsure if he truly wanted to know. A collective groan arose from the guys, and they started to explain their story again. The only main difference was that somewhere along the way their attackers became ninjas. Deadlox still wasn't buying it, but it wasn't the time for him to bring it up. As creepy as it had seemed, he was eager to get back to the city and discover more about it, and why it had struck a chord in memories he thought were long-since forgotten. After the painfully long explanation ceased, Ssundee only nodded, as if this sort of thing happened all the time.

"We're going to need guards, or at least some other people to go with us." Sky said again. "There should be at least someone willing to come along, especially if we could cough up some sort of reward." The last part was said hastily, on account of none of them really having that much money or good except Ssundee, but that was another story. Deadlox cleared his throat, and announced, official-like,

"Let the recruiting begin."


	11. Sweet Remembrance

Seto constantly woke up and fell asleep in constant motion. Dreams blurred days together, and when he finally managed to snap out of it for ten or so minutes, he would find a cup of water and some meat on the table beside him, which he would quickly devour before giving into exhaustion again. He was healing, he supposed, from his various injuries and exhaustion. Once he was feeling better, the dreams became less wild, and his breathing calmed. Finally, he snapped himself awake and into full consciousness again. This is where we start again.

Seto gasped, sitting up in bed. He had been having the craziest dream about a mask, some black dust, and... a potato? It was best not to question it, he was running on brain power alone, after all. However, something was different this time he woke up. He no longer ached or felt sore, and the compulsion to sleep had all but vanished. Instead, he got up again, and felt amazing for once in a very long time. There was a glass of milk and two small uneven slices of bread lying on the table. He ate it slowly while looking out of the window, now adjusted to the vast difference in height. It was daybreak again, with mist coating the bottom of the Overworld jungle below. A rich, sweet smell hung in the air, surely a few floors' distance away. Feeling confident, he walked past the mirror on the adjacent wall, and opened the door. This time, he was prepared for the burst of icy, gusty wind.

There were a slabs of wood in various colors and textures pressed firmly into the sturdy branches of the tree. Nothing groaned or creaked under his careful steps; it had been constructed with expert craftsmanship and soundly enough to hold more than the likes of him. He pulled his hood up over his head, hair, and ears again, thus protecting his from the weather's adverse affairs. He looked from his left to his right, deciding on whether to ascend upwards or descend towards the roots. Suddenly, he realized he had left his bag beside the nightstand that had held his meal. Rushing back inside, his eyes darted frantically. It was gone, someone had moved it! Forcing himself to calm down, he reasoned that Sparklez had simply taken it with him when he left him his breakfast, possibly to a safer location. Shutting the door behind him again, he turned to his right, and started walking up, hand running along the bark of the tree, almost cautious. He had no reason to, but he still was on edge. Possibly from adrenaline, but he was playing it safe. No use getting lost, anyway.

When he got to the next floor, he was taken by great surprise. Large double chest were placed in-between crafting benches and furnaces, in neat lines along the wall. Fences were attached to the outside platform, adding more stability and ease of transition. A large doorway cut into the bark and heart of the tree showed that it had been hollowed out, a set of spiral stairs swirling inside. Shortly behind it tucked into a neat corner was a small building with glass windows. Turning the stone-cold doorknob, he pushed it to reveal a few cats, a bed, and a few more chests. It appeared to be a temporary bedroom to sleep in if someone, most likely CaptainSparklez, had spent the entire day crafting and creating. Someone spent their time well.

He shut the door again, hearing it lock into place as he walked away. He could either go below to ground level via spiral staircase or keep going up. He reasoned that his belongings weren't in the ocean or greens below him swiftly, and continued upwards, marveled more and more at the structure and layout of the massive tree house. It must have taken years to complete, not to mention architectural skill. The paths began to diverge into others, revealing more rooms, ledges, and dead ends. He heard the cry of mobs as he climbed higher, but he tried his best to tune it out, albeit uneasy. He didn't know where they were or why he could hear them, but he had much more pressing issues, to him, anyway. Keep in mind he did just wake up from recovery, so he wasn't exactly thinking things through all the way, okay? He was happy he had just been allowed to stay here, regardless of the exact situation. He stopped briefly when he spotted a small section of bookcase, completely surrounding something. Turning his attention away from the main path, he walked up the guardrails-free steps to find an enchanting table, absorbing the energies from the books around it. He had personally never been able to make an enchanting table, for lack of proper resources and recipe, not to mention the time. He stared for a minute, almost mesmerized by the flow of power from shelf to table and soft white glow it gave off, before shaking it off and turning back to the task at hand.

The air grew lighter and lighter the higher he went, and his ears popped under the lack of pressure. The wind was more rough, pushing his robes roughly against his skin. The view was pretty nice, though. It overshadowed the entire jungle, even allowing him to see the plains, even a hint of the ocean. His mind slapped two and two together as he realized that this is what he had seen over the treetops when he himself had been in the plains. Finally, it appeared he had reached the summit. He was surprised to see the steps lead up to a wooden frame surrounding grass with small yellow flowers on top. The Captain was there, but why was unclear. He moved slowly, almost as if he was afraid to break the silence. When he stepped onto the spiky jungle grass, though, it crunched soundly, alerting the other. Sparklez' attention wavered, focusing on the sound instead of whatever it was he was doing, stopping when he noticed Seto out of his peripheral vision. Visibly relaxing, he stayed quiet, laying down a small red rose from the plains, and moved so Seto could see.

'Here lies Jerry.'

'He was a noble slime.'

'May he rest in peace.'

"So.. Jerry was your pet?" He asked, wishing nothing more than to relieve the thick tension.

"Yeah... he was awesome. We went on a couple of adventures together, and on our last one, someone got upset at me for something that was entirely my fault. To get back, he... he pushed Jerry into the water. He got trapped... I know he didn't mean to kill him, but still. Jerry's gone." His head was still tilted down, away from wandering, thus unclear to see his true emotion. What was it in his voice? Regret? Sadness? Anger? Pain? Revenge? Fear? Maybe it was a mix of all of them.

"I'm sorry about that." Seto said, unsure where Sparklez was standing emotionally. "I've never had a pet, but just from your tone you sound like you were close to him." Sparklez looked up, and gave him a grateful smile, and then started to walk back down the wooden steps. Seto would have quickly rushed to join him, eager to get out of the crisp morning air, but he paused for a second to look back at grave. It looked so nice, but it had triggered something in the Captain he probably would never see again. Turning back around, he followed him down, surprised at how quickly his mood had changed. Gone was the emotional emptiness, replaced by a carefree and happy smile.

"Alright, let's check on what I was doing earlier!" He said, more or less talking to himself rather than Seto. Bringing his pace to a brisk walk, Seto interjected, wanting to know where his books and reagents were.

"Did you take my messenger bag? " He inquired, "Red creeper face, black accents..." He trailed off as Sparklez turned into a room, leaving the door open behind him. Once it closed with Seto inside, warmth took over the atmosphere. The sweet smell had intensified tenfold; now Seto could see something was baking on an iron sheet, resting above the ruby-red coals only a furnace could produce. He watched carefully as the other pulled the sheet from the top and set it on another, cooler stone furnace, not in use of course. Whatever he was making, it wasn't cake. Cooling quickly, the Captain picked up a piece of what looked like brown wool and took a bite. The dark eyes behind red-rimmed shades lit up with success as he swallowed. He broke a few more pieces off, and said,

"Try this. I've been trying different recipes for a while, and this one worked. It's called "chocolate"." He handed on of the bigger pieces to Seto, who received it in his gloved hand hesitantly. Trying random things never ended well for him, but this wasn't made by him. He owed it to him to at least try this "chocolate", not to mention it smelled like Aether above. Cautiously taking a bite, his eyes widened as the sweet rich taste flooded his senses, a much needed relief after bland bread and steak.

"This is amazing! How did you make it?!" He asked, finishing off his chunk.

"Just some milk, sugar, and cocoa beans. It didn't take that long, either." Sparklez bit into a another piece with increased vigor. "I put your items in the mob spawn chest, since I was getting some extra materials and it would be the easiest chest to get to. I'll go get it if you want." Seto, still enjoying the newfound treat, nodded eagerly in response, and turned to leave. CaptainSparklez started to lead the way back, placing the tray on the still-warm furnace to conserve heat while preserving the candy. Now that he knew his way around, more or less, Seto was much more comfortable at simply looking around, and he noticed things he missed before. Items that held what he supposed something significant to the contents of the chest hung in frames above, some organized and others rapidly emptied. A mob spawner would explain the noises he had heard prior, and based on their sounds, the mob spawner itself was in the tree, not around it in a room somewhere. The stairs weren't as bad as they seemed, and it was nice once you got used to the cold air. Finally turning in, Sparklez opened the chest and grabbed the bag out of it, shutting it back in one swift motion. Tossing it back, Seto fumbled with it, dropping it on the floor. Unfortunately, whatever monster was above immediately became attracted to the sound like a bat to a dark cave. It fell, but the "trap" failed at its basic duty, allowing two zombies and a spider to reach them.

Seto instantly backed up, eyes widening at the mobs. He had just recovered, he didn't want to be broken and battered again! Sparklez, however, didn't even hesitate. Unsheathing a diamond sword previously concealed at his side, he slashed through the mobs effortlessly. It was amazing at terrifying at the same time. It only took three hits, too. Picking up the loot from the floor, he glanced back at Seto, who was, not going to lie, pretty terrified at this point. The Captain was obviously a master at swordsmanship, while he was utterly defenseless. Sparklez didn't seem angry that Seto didn't help, rather was more or less confused at his reaction.

"Are you okay? It was just a few mobs, not a swarm." He stated, sheathing the weapon just a quickly at it had been drawn out. It seemed to almost blend into his attire, almost invisible.

"Yeah... I'm just.." He sighed. "I can't fight. At all." He looked down at the floor, embarrassed. Now he was only a hindrance to the other. However, instead of doubting him, Sparklez looked at him for a second, and then went back to the mob spawn chest, returning with two wooden swords, offering him one. Seto looked up, confused.

"Just because you don't know how doesn't mean you can't learn." Seto's expression lit up as he understood what he was trying to say.

"You'll teach me?!" He said, partially out of shock and partially out of gratitude. Sparklez smiled, and Seto took the sword from him, trying to find a balance. Even though it was just wood, it didn't feel quite right, but at least it wasn't at crazy as him trying to balance and axe.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I help you? Now, try to get a good stance first, if you can't move, you can't fight." Moving himself, he put the wooden weapon to his side, and shifted himself to a standpoint between both shoulders, feet bracing themselves against the wooden floor naturally. Seto shifted the sword to his right hand, and moved into what he assumed would be a threatening position. "That's good," Sparklez commented, "but you want your feet closer together; it's very easy to fall like that." Correcting himself, Seto stood up a bit more. "Now, move the sword so that the sharpened edge lines up with your arm, straight up-and-down." Following the instructions, he adjusted the weapon in his right hand, and turned back. "Then, all you do is take turns stepping forward and swinging, occasionally blocking. Watch me." He said, and then step forward swiftly, slashing horizontally at the air. Pivoting around on the foot he stepped forward with, he repeated the steps with the other foot, this time taking a stab and an imaginary foe. "You try." He offered, stepping back and trading spots with a very focused Seto.

Moving his stance again, he checked the wooden sword; it was blade-first. Taking a breath, he moved forward and made a desperate-looking slash, turning around to almost fall down, barely regaining his balance. With an encouraging smile from C.S., he tried it again, moving much more fluidly this time. After he did this a few more time, the Captain stepped in, and immediately went to the battle stance. Catching on to what he was doing, Seto braced himself, and waited. Sparklez struck first, Seto shakily blocking it. Stepping over, Seto moved to the left, and took a simple slash at him, narrowly missing his right arm. Reaffirming his position, he moved first again, this time missing his leg by an inch. Sparklez side-stepped, and took a jab, which Seto blocked quickly. Taking the moment of hesitation, he swiftly shifted his weight back, and slashed back, moving behind him. Turning around, he saw that Sparklez was clutching his right side, but recovered. He had actually hit his opponent, who was smiling again. He had actually done it.

"See? It's easy if you know how. What do you say to another match?"

"You're on!"


	12. Set-Up and Start-Off

Eight days. It had been eight days since the disasters had happened and eight days since they had to hold off the investigation of the ruinous great city simply because no one would dare go with them. They had hoped at least someone would volunteer or want to go venture off with them, but their crazy schemes were known to mostly everyone anywhere near. Eventually, they had managed to get two inexperienced, untrained strangers to agree, as it seems that they weren't doing much. It appeared that they had come to the small town to restock arrows after a hunting trip, so it had been purely luck-based. Quentin had felt like they were enough as they appeared to be experienced archers, but that was before the one in the blue chest plate almost shot Jerome. But hey, an ally's an ally, right? At this point in time, everyone was in debate on what to do.

"I still think this is enough! In fact, I don't know why we needed other people in the first place! We're a big enough group, and all at least know basic fighting and stances. This whole thing is crazy!" Mitch argued fiercely. This was the epicenter of the conflict that had sparked up in the last five or so days. The six were gathered in Ssundee's parent's house around a small table in a room with far too little lighting for their liking. Chairs were scattered over the dim room, which smelled faintly of raw fish, and most of the food in the chests had all but vanished. Time and patience was running out for everyone.

"What if something were to happen to all of us? It's dangerous!" Quentin countered, still unrelenting. "We're not experts, in fact, half of us aren't even technically adults! And don't get me started on those people Sky found! We'll be killed before we even get near this supposed broken city, which I have yet to see any evidence of!" It was a good counter claim for the most part. Yes, they were inexperienced, with the only adept defenders being Mitch and Jerome, and even they had their weak spots. The "troops" that Adam had scourged up weren't exactly the best either. In fact, they might have forgotten and left already. As for the team, Jerome looked as if he was going to fall asleep in the chair he sat in, quickly to be joined by Adam and Ian. Only the frequent shouts kept them awake. It was always the same anyway. Only hours earlier had they been running around in boredom, and to sum it up the neighbor's house was now green and yellow, the carpet covered a suspicious pile of what was definitely not stuff they had broken, and there was glass in the front yard. Jerome broke a window. Please don't ask.

After what seemed like another painful hour, Sky had enough of the charade. "Look, I think we're fine. If we ever reach the extremes, we could go ask my mom or something. But for now, I think we can trust each other. And those archer guys." When he finished his little interjection, all eyes in the room, even the ones that had been tiring and closing, shot straight at him. That meaning Husky, Mitch, Ian, Jerome, and Ty, who had been balancing a wooden stick on the tip of his nose. All with the exception of Ssundee's and Deadlox's looked all but lost.

"Your mom?" Jerome asked, humor lacing the lines of the sentence, "I don't think we're that desperate." Ian, finally speaking up after being strangely quiet the past few hours, smiled and replied,

"I don't think any of you have ever met Sky's mom. She's a commander for a decent-sized army, in fact, the only army that we have. They help defend against monsters, rebuild broken villages, and all sorts of things. It wouldn't be a bad idea to go ask for some help." He finished, eyes previously on Adam flicking to him, thinking over the new information with confusion and revelation.

"How did you know that?" Husky asked, putting extra emphasis on the "you". No one really talked about their past experiences. It was almost a taboo subject among the group. It only lead to uncomfortable silences anyway, and there was no point in dealing with those. Without even moving a muscle, he responded,

"Me and Sky grew up in the same town as kids. He invited me over to his house once. It was pretty nice." Ending his explanation there, the rest thought it through. The more you know, right? Deadlox seemed to feel like there was something else to add, by quickly saying, "Plus, she's the best out there. Like a ninja or something, only real." The last word was directed back at Sky, Mitch, and Jerome. He still didn't believe they were attacked by ninjas, no matter how many times Mitch told him the story. It wasn't going to work. Mitch looked back to Quentin thinking back to their conversation prior.

"That's our backup plan then, okay? We check it out, and if it's too dangerous, we come back with more people. Boom, problem solved, let's go." He said, wrapping up all of their problems into an easy solution. Sure, it had some holes in it, but it was the best he had, and he wanted to go back to the city. Anything would beat being stuck in the house even longer. Best to leave now before another window was broken, or worse. Crazier things had happened.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Jerome said, standing up from the feeble table, not really waiting for confirmation from the others. It worked for him, and that was all that mattered. It seemed that it was good enough for Quentin, who decided to finally agree for once. Everyone's positions shifted dramatically as the jumped up and began preparing the gear that they would need, again. In those aforementioned eight days they had done some mining and slaying, so it was simply a matter of putting it all together.

"I'll go see if the two archers are still there. Maybe they're still around." Sky volunteered, already moving out of the door. No one said anything or tried to stop him either. Walking out of the darker house, the bright light and fierce colors attacked his unguarded eyes. He blinked a few times in effort to adjust, but it was futile. He simply settled with attempting to cover up his eyes by putting a hand on his forehead, and sighed. He missed his shades. Walking briskly down the street for what felt like the fifth time that day, the other trips being for materials, he looked around for those he had recruited yesterday. He distinctly remembered them having two different dyed leather chest pieces, one being a cyan with the corresponding being a lapis lazuli blue. Luckily, he found them much quicker than expected, and for a good reason. They were both shouting somewhat while firing what seemed like as many arrows as they could, only pausing to continue the rather one-sided argument. He could make out multitudes of arrows that were snared in tree leaves as he got closer, and he could also pick up their argument.

"-ll say it happened! You were there, and you saw him! Right?"

"Listen, I have no clue what you're talking about. Again. So shut up. You don't have a wolf named Freckles, for the last time!" Sky stood there for a second, simply listening. It got old after a while, though. He then interceded before he had the chance of being ignored and possibly forgetting why he was there is the first place.

"We're leaving now, so are you still in or not?" He asked, not really trying to be rude or stop their conversation, but really needing to know. Everyone was already impatient enough as it is, and they certainly didn't need to be halted further.

"Yeah, yeah, we're coming. Train!" The cyan solider replied, then shouting back at his friend in the blue leather. "We're leaving!" Sky didn't want nor need to stay and hear the response, as he was already on his way back to the house. The sun was hurting his eyes more than he thought it would. A minor downside to having weak eyes, he guessed. He went as fast as he was truly willing to go, Ian's parent's house in view. His parents had left their house and moved when Ssundee was old enough to take care of himself, settling into a new town as well. It made sense, as he already had some close ties and friends that would have been difficult to deal with in parting. They were in yet another town currently, doing something or another. They were very quiet, but yet again, no one pried into their business. Your business is your business, and it just depended on what you were willing to share. Everyone has something they want to hide or protect. At least, mostly everyone.

When he arrived back he was slightly short of breath, not really built for long jogs six times down a village road. He was just in time to see everyone gearing up. Since none of them truly had any form of money or currency on their being, they couldn't afford authentic armour and weaponry. As cheap as they could be, they scavenged up the supplies needed to make five small stone swords, and one stone axe for the bacca as best as they could. The final product was a bit crude, but it served its purpose. Leather boots and vests had also been made via genocide of many cows, so they would have at least some basic protection from the elements and attacks from wherever they may come from. Graciously taking a pair of boots for himself, Adam also slipped on the chest plate and put the sword in a firm right-handed grip. Letting his thoughts free of concern, he suddenly hit one topic: Seto.

He knew it was also on the other's minds, but no one had said anything yet. Those that had been there and conscious for the squid attack knew it somehow involved his disappearance, and that blood... They could only hope for the best and deal with that mountain when they met it. For now, even he was brimming with excitement about the prospect of a lost city. It was like one of those pirate treasure hunt games he had played when he was little, only this time it was real. His thoughts were brought to a halt when Jerome's voice called out,

"First check, does anyone need anything or need to leave anything in a chest?" Sky's hand found its way into his right pocket as he said that, shifting the sword to his much awkwarder left. It rested on the amulet, almost reassuring him. It wasn't even that special and held no significance to him whatsoever, but there was no way he was leaving it behind for a potential thief to steal. Break-ins were common everywhere, and there was no way he was taking that chance. He also didn't like the fact that Mitch and Jerome seemed to be the self appointed leaders, even though they were the best at combat. It didn't feel right to him. Anyway, no one else said anything, except for the man named Train who raised his hand, but was promptly ignored. Jerome nodded to Mitch a universal "all clear" nod, who in turn said,

"Well, here we go."


	13. A Ravaged Realm

"What does this place look like, anyway?" Ian asked, keeping his eyes on the road but talking in Jerome's general direction. They'd been on the road for about half a day, and the sun was getting dangerously close to the horizon. If they didn't arrive soon, they would have to stop and camp for the night. MItch, Deadlox, and the two archers were farther up the road just in case of the event of any surprises, leaving Ssundee, Husky, Sky and Jerome further behind for the same reason. So far nothing had happened, but you could never be too careful. They were making a lot of noise, anyhow, the gravel clicking up against their feet as they talked, sometimes accompanied by laughter.

"It's... pretty impressive. There's a building trimmed with enough stuff to make us really, really rich." Jerome responded, remembering the shining centerpiece of the city. He had never seen so much valuable resources in one place, even in his wildest dreams. That was one of the many reasons he had decided to bring an iron pick. The fact that he was also the only one who had an iron pick had helped too.

"If we take it." Sky said, unknowingly protesting against Jerome's thoughts. "It could belong to someone or... I don't know. Doesn't it seem a little too good to be true?" He finished, now with Quentin and Ian looking back at him as well, almost as if he was crazy. What? He thought it was a legitimate point.

"Adam, no one's going to want an old building underground." Ian spoke up, walking a little faster as the sun sunk beneath the tree line as the dusk began to set in. The group of four leading in front of them were much farther away than previously thought, though they hadn't really been checking in front of them. They started walking faster, not quite jogging, but definitely not the carefree pace they were on earlier. No one wanted to be left behind. Even the most advanced swordsman could be unluckily taken down by the mobs that ruled the night. Doing so, they easily caught up with the other four ahead of them just as they found the stream bed.

"Whoa, what's the rush?" Mitch asked, stone sword already in hand. "It's not dark yet, and look-" He pointed the weapon forwards to a giant chasm. "We're here." And so they were. Not much had changed in their last visit, but the gravel path was all but gone. Bits and pieces of the above terrain were teetering on the edge of the gaping hole, and it was evident more pieces had been swallowed up. You couldn't even tell where the tower had once been; it had all been drug down by what was effectively a giant sink hole.

"So, who's going first?" Sky joked while everyone kept their eyes on the crater. It would take some fancy footwork to get down unhurt, and most importantly uneventful. Looking back, they could have easily fallen when they were climbing out of the pit, but had been too happy to get out than to worry. Now, dread filled them. If any mistakes were made or any unfortunate accidents happened, it was on their shoulders. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea...

"Everyone watch your step." Jerome cautioned, getting in front of everyone else and stepping onto what was once just a normal field. The ground didn't creak; it was a solid spot. More people followed suit after that, trying their own ways. If they heard any noises or the footing beneath them was especially loose, they would rush back to the safe spots as quickly as possible until they found a safe way down the hole. None of them wanted to risk digging for fear of rupturing the rocks and letting them cover the city again.

"No, we're going to try to fall and die." Sky rebuked again, hopping back after some rocks broke down and tumbled from the spot he had just walked to. So far Ian had gone the farthest, getting only roughly thirty-some blocks from the opening, but not close enough to see inside. Ty looked up, and said,

"That didn't help, Adam." As he jumped over a particularly fragile spot. It went like this for a good while, and it didn't help that there was almost no lighting now as it was now dark. Everyone was jumpy and had their weapon out in front of them at all times, which was the thing that made them different from the mobs. Even so, everyone was fearful for close calls. It had happened before. Finally, they heard a shout from around the other side of the chasm, and saw that Mitch had reached the center. Being extra cautious, they backtracked to his route and followed it until they could see his waving hand clearly. Now it was simply a matter of climbing down an expansive side of rock.

Jerome, showing he had an iron pick, proceeded to go down first so that there would be a stable path. They were far enough down that they couldn't ajar the solid rock layer, so if there was a spot they couldn't directly walk to, he could just carve a path there. Using this method, the road was basically marked and ready; it was much easier than what they had been doing prior. They were finally close enough the see the city, and you could swear there was an audible gasp. Some of the homes below were strangely lit up. Were there still some torches left below, or maybe even a piece of ever-valuable Glowstone? They'd only heard about Glowstone through several Minecraftian stories they were told as kids, since it was extremely dangerous and difficult to go to the Nether. But even the prospect of Glowstone didn't prepare them for the main building. Husky literally stopped and did a double take. The golden light shone faintly on the glittering edges, almost inadvertently lighting up the entire city.

"Wow..." Ian murmured, looking down at the city. "You guys weren't kidding." There wasn't a chance any mobs would spawn in the city, unless they wandered in through the cave systems. Finally reaching the bottom with a satisfying crunch of gravel, they just stood and looked at the city for a few minutes. Even underground and partially destroyed, it was a marvel of architecture. How did this wonder fall into ruin?

"...so what do we do now?" Husky asked, temporarily sheathing his sword. Deadlox motioned over to the broken gates, and the rest followed over. Instead of squeezing through the bars this time, they had enough combined strength to completely pull the bars off. Now that they were inside again, they could truly split up and explore. Everyone eager, they each silently agreed to go their own way for now, leaving the two archer guys, who honestly were bored to death to guard at the gate.

Sky started looking around in houses. For what, who knows? Not that there was really much in them. Every house was pretty decent, usually with a second floor and occasionally the obvious hole to what would have been a basement. There were chests in a couple, with some decent finds. Usually a piece of iron or a bowl, or some light pigments and paper. The houses themselves were furnished very nicely, with wool carpet and wooden seats, no cobble anywhere to be seen. On many were intricate paintings, some very creative and bright with others being very dark and slight;y creepy. It didn't really matter, though, because he was having too much fun! It was like a giant treasure hunt, but with no instructions.

Mitch went to some of the bigger buildings, and to his amazement, discovered giant reserves of weapons and training rooms with everything from dummies to wool targets. This was crazy, but was he complaining? Of course not! All of the weapons were iron-grade, meaning he probably would never have an excuse to wield a stone blade ever again. Bows, some even enchanted, with chests filled to the brim with arrows. Even though he didn't use enchanted gear until he knew what it did, he made a few exception. He could spend weeks in here and never get bored. Picking up a curved sword, he expertly took a hack at the wooden dummy.

Ian had found the bakery. Enough said.

Quentin was just walking around, looking at structure. He heard and saw Adam go by a few times, too. The city was planned out symmetrically, he noticed, with lots of detail and cautious planning. Hunks of re-melted stone had careful carvings in them that ran up and down the buildings. Even though it had broken down and most of the finer buildings had been severely damaged by what he supposed was the earthquake's doing, it was still the definition of impressive. Most of this had been created by top craftsman, with even glass tinted slightly different colors in grander buildings. Even underground, it was a wonderfully made city.

Jerome wandered to the center of the large metropolis with full intent on getting a few pieces of gold before he did anything else, which is exactly what he did. Chipping away at the mold-able material, he stopped after getting three blocks, as they were getting heavy and he didn't want to be weighed down. After doing that, he decided to go up into what appeared to be a castle-like structure. It was certainly built like a castle, but he began to notice something grim. Unknown stains covered the floor, with weapons scattered around the main room. Paintings were ripped, some even partially burned. A tree grew in the corner; how it got there he would never know. Even stranger, ice coated the ceilings and walls, not even melted. How had it gotten here? This wasn't a tundra, far from it. What happened here...?

Deadlox had a bad feeling about this place. He was still on full alert as he cautiously explored the underground world. This was the kind of place rubble could decide to disbar at any given time and crush you, and he wasn't going to let it happen to him. He walked down the cobble roads briskly, almost as if he were being chased. There was something not right about this place, and it was as if he had been here before. He knew these roads. How? Walking near the wall that framed the city, he noticed a breach in it, and went to look over it. Rubble had fallen to cover it up, but now he felt like his mind was screaming at him to run. Turning back around to leave, he stopped when he spotted something lying on the ground. Curiosity overtaking him, he walked back to see a tarnished iron sword on the ground, nothing much. He picked up, still unsure why, and examined it. Noticing letters had been forged into the blade, he struggled to make them out. When that failed, he realized the hilt had runes in it. It was heavily enchanted. He slipped the weapon into the sheathe for his sword, keeping his still in his hand.

Walking back, he wondered why the ground was so uneven. Sure, they were on rocks, but every few steps he took, he heard something snap. To be honest, he didn't want to know what he was walking on. Especially if it was what he thought it was. Seeing Quentin up ahead looking at buildings and the like, he jogged up to meet him. When he was close enough, he slipped on a jagged piece of cobble, accidentally turning up some of the road. Husky, who had been walking up to meet him as well, froze, and paled. Ty slowly turned around to see what was behind him, and instantly regretted it. A skeletal hand poked up from the rubble, outstretched. This... this place was a graveyard...

No one was going to judge them for screaming as loud as they could.


	14. Arcane Apperception

"You've really improved, Seto!" CaptainSparklez said, lowering the stone sword to his hand. Seto had greatly improved on the basics of wooden and stone warfare, seeing how his own sword broke after Sparklez parried a very forceful blow. Even if he still couldn't wield an iron sword to its full potential, there was no doubt that he was much more polished an refined than he had been that morning. They had been practicing for a good while now, and the sun had moved a little farther west than it had been earlier. In fact, it was almost lunchtime. Both Minecraftians knew this, of course, and were equally hungry.

"You want to take a lunch break?" Sparklez asked, putting the one intact sword back into the chest and sweeping aside the fragmented broken one with his foot, one assuming he would pick it up later. Seto nodded once in response, slightly out of breath. He was never one for physical work, and his arms hurt. The Captain understood what he was going through, as it was an extraneous activity that took a lot out of you, and he had to work steadily so he wasn't exhausted after some practice. "I have some steak downstairs from hunting yesterday. You want some?" He offered, as Seto nodded his head once more, clearly tired. "Come downstairs when you feel like it, if you want to relax for a second a catch your breath." With that, Sparklez left, and his footsteps echoed down the stairs.

Seto leaned against a wall, sliding down until he was sitting on the floor. His arms ached, but he had been used to standing for relatively long periods of time so his legs were, for the most part, pain-free. Hey, at least he could fight now, or somewhat, at least. Maybe it hadn't been a good idea for him to do this so quickly after he had recovered, but what was done was done and he couldn't change it anyways. Reflecting a little and committing the stances, postures, and various maneuvers to heart, he shakily stood up again. He picked up the creeper-faced bag that he had initially followed his host to the spot he was currently in for, and slipped the strap that carried it diagonally over his chest, resting lightly on one arm. Walking out of the open doorway, he covered his eyes as the fierce light of the mid afternoon sun blinded him. It was now warm and bright enough so that the fog that had blanketed the trees below had all but vanished.

Realization hit him as he looked over the extensive jungle that he could have ran all night and never would have escaped it's clutches, if a biome could trap someone as such. He finally understood how truly lucky he had been. He... he could have died... Sparklez had saved his life. The sudden awareness of it hit him like a fully notched arrow; that was why he was being taught how to fight. So it wouldn't catch him off guard again, and so the situation wouldn't repeat itself. Wow. He could never repay him. Seto made a mental note; if there was ever any way he could help the other in the future, he wouldn't hesitate to do so. Eyes adjusted to the new light, he continued his walk down the wooden steps, careful not to trip.

When he got to the first floor, finally, he saw the Captain already had lunch out on a table beside the opening to the steps that descended to ground level, and that he already was eating a piece as he lent upon the railing. Seto did the same as he walked over to join him. Now that he was adjusted to just how high up they were, he could appreciate the view. One of the advantages of living in a giant tree. It was quiet for a few minutes, before Sparklez tried to start a conversation.

"You said earlier that you lived in a tower, right? Where, exactly?" He questioned harmlessly. "I mean, I've just never seen you before, and it's not like there's a lot of people around here, right?" He let out a dry chuckle as he continued staring. Seto had his own questions in mind, but decided to answer this one first.

"I'm... not sure exactly. I know it's across the ocean, so not very close to here." He thought back to the surrounding areas to get a better mental picture. "It's fairly distant from a small town, next to a stream. And you remember what I told you about that, right?" This time it was Sparklez who nodded as Seto continued. "The stream must connect to the ocean not far down. Maybe behind the forest; I never went near there on account of mobs." He finished, taking another small mouthful. After a few more quiet, but not awkwardly silent minutes passed, Seto asked one of his own questions. "How long was I out? I know it must have been a while, but I just- I'd be nice to know." He stuttered.

"Oh, seven days. Today's the eighth. You were really sick." The answer hit him like a smack to the face; seven days? He must have been much worse than he initially thought. He hadn't been too much of a burden, had he? His feelings must have shown on his face, though, as Sparklez gave him a reassuring smile. It was briefly interrupted, however, as another question sprung into the Minecraftian in question's mind.

"Do you have any enemies?" A strange question on Sparklez's part, but Seto assumed he had a reason. Most people do, anyway, and by the way they had been going, he kind of had to answer it. Still, it made him slightly curious.

"No, not that I know of." He answered, and Sparklez relaxed. He hadn't realized that he had been holding in a breath, but realized that his host didn't want any trouble for someone he just saved on a whim, which was probably a smart idea. Thinking up a new question to keep the conversation alive, he asked, "You mentioned you go to a town. Where is that, exactly?"

"There's one just a little that way." He said, motioning towards the north-east. "There's a forest that is next to another stream system, making it a convient spot for people just passing by. A lot have joined it, though most just stop by for supplies or people to talk to. It gets lonely sometimes." He finished, Seto finding himself nodding in understanding.

"Why are you out here, in the middle of this jungle? There doesn't seem to be any advantage to living out here." He hurriedly asked, not realizing that it was his second question, and a little unfair to Sparklez, who didn't realize it and answered it anyway.

"I needed a place to live without being interrupted all of the time. I never get anything done with anyone around, anyway. And also..." He noticeably paused for a second before continuing. "I don't want a certain someone finding me." He rushed the last part a little before finishing his steak, throwing the tiny chunk left into the dense canopy below. "You mentioned friends before. Who are they?"

"There's Sky, Deadlox, Mitch, Jerome, Quentin... oh, and Ian. We're almost a group. They're basically all of the people I have." Seto remembered the first time that he had met them. It had been a complete accident, as they thought he was a zombie when he was trying to start a campfire. They joined him, back then it was just the first four, so they could all get to the next town safely.

"Basically all the people you have?" Sparklez inquired, looking at him with a quizzical expression on his face. "What about your family? Don't you have your parents?" Seto was about to respond, when he thought about it. But there was... nothing there...

"I... don't... know..." He said slowly, trying to think of something to tell him. But there was nothing. He started to panic as he realized he couldn't give a yes or a no. Why couldn't he remember?! Surely there was something! A name, a face, some sort of... what was it like before he met them?! His head was starting to hurt again. He scrunched up his fists in frustration as stepped away from the railing to think. What was going on?"

"Are you okay? I didn't mean to cause anything." CaptainSparklez said, turning to face him. He could tell very clearly that something was wrong, and he just wanted to help. Seto was trembling at this point, just unable to get past it. "Wait, I never completely showed you around!" He said, in effort to change the subject. "Do you want a full tour? I mean, there's not much, but I'd be glad to."

"...sure." Seto said, moving slowly to follow as he was still in deep thought. He could remember everything up to then pretty clearly. Going backwards chronologically, he remembered trying to learn magic, building the tower, visiting the town, meeting everyone, and then- nothing! Only the past few years were recall-able. Frustrated, he stopped as he started to follow Sparklez up the stairs. This was only making his head hurt more.

"Of course, you already know all of the stairways and floors." He started, eager to share what was obviously one of his best creations. The one that they were currently on was intricately trimmed with spruce that vastly complimented the oak floor and coverings, Seto noting that it must have been a pain to travel to a tundra just to find a certain type of complementary wood. Funny how he could remember types of wood but not what happened a few years ago. Why couldn't he just remember? Hadn't he recalling things from his pa- "And you obviously know about the mob trap..." He mentioned, unknowingly cutting off Seto's thoughts again as they passed the spot that the both of them had spent most of the day fighting away. They also passed the enchanting table again, to which Sparklez filled in some details for. "I'm guessing you know what that is. I'm not the best at enchanting; I always get Sharpness I. It doesn't really like me." He joked, and continued walking up with one more comment. "That's why I keep a few wooden and stone swords to practice on before I try diamond or iron." At this point, Seto was sure he'd seen all of the massive tree house, but he was still being lead on. Not trying to interrupt, he followed silently.

Making an abrupt turn, Seto realized that there must have been another path hidden just behind the corner. It was far too distant and hidden to be unintentional, and his mind became preoccupied with thoughts about the architecture than his memory in general. He wasn't prepared for what he saw, though, even as he heard it first. The unsettling pulses of a portal filled the air, his eyes only affirming this as he saw the omniscient dark frame and purple wisps.

"How do you...' He trailed off wordlessly as he examined the portal, slightly shocked. He had built a Nether portal? That meant countless preparation, mindlessly hacking away at chunks of cooled lava, and even that required diamond tools as a bare minimum... it was insane, and he was almost speechless. "That's amazing." Was all he could say as he stepped away from it again, remembering stories of those that had gone into the Nether. They said it was a fiery wasteland, but the little bit of Minecraftian his books decided to allow said that there were pure potion ingredients if you knew how to find and harvest them. "Just being curious, but why would you want to go to the Nether?" He asked, taking another step back and turning to face the man with the red sunglasses, who in turn just shrugged. Even he, as basic as his knowledge was, was aware of the dangers people spoke of in the unnatural world.

"I just wanted to see what it was like." Was the response he was given, and he took a bold step closer. His motions triggered a warning from the other, though, "Don't get too close, though. Then it'll pull you into it, and I'll have to go in after you." Sparklez joked, but Seto took it very seriously, and moved back considerably. Be caught in a world of fire and pain, waiting to be rescued? No thanks! Seeing his worry, the Captain continued, "Of course, I don't spend much time in there. Instead, I prefer a much cooler pastime. You're not afraid of heights, are you?" To be honest, Seto was a little intimidated by tall structures, but it wasn't on his list of fears. He noticed Sparklez motioning to a path right beside the one that lead to the Nether portal, and he walked over, reading the sign: Diving Board. It was getting hot out, but he wasn't so sure he wanted to go into the water so soon again. "Do you want to try?" Sparklez offered. "You dry off really quickly in the jungle's heat."

Should he? Seto warily approached the edge, unsure. His breath was caught by the sharp drop; it was a long way down. Shaking his head, he decided to be brave for once. There probably weren't any squids at the bottom. Probably. "Of course." He decided, relaying his choice to the other who's face instantly lit up. He didn't bother to take off the glasses, strangely enough, as he readied himself.

"Are you sure?" He was asked again, Sparklez probably wanting to give him a way out. He shook his head in response, and he quickly slipped off the bag at his hip as not to damage the precious books inside. "Alright then." Was the only comment as he readied himself.

3...

2...

1...

"JUMP!" Sparklez voice rang out as he took a running leap off of the oaken board, Seto quickly following. The thick, pasty air was replaced with cooling, quick winds like the ones higher up, certainly making the midday heat all but vanish from his mind. The jungle sped up and turned into a flowing mass of greens and blues as they went faster, faster and faster...

SPLASH!

They hit the water consecutively, and Seto was hit with the cool relief of the lake below. It was much nicer than what he had originally though, and even though his eyes were closed, I can personally guarantee there was not a squid within a hundred blocks. He kicked to the surface and took a quick gasp of air, but defiantly felt better. That was exhilarating, not to mention refreshing! The Captain was already at the lake's edge, sitting down on the grass. Seto quickly maneuvered his way over to shore, and picked himself up.

"That was amazing!" He said to Sparklez, who was getting up as well. "I need one of those at-" He cut off when he remembered the ruined state he had left the tower in. He hoped it hadn't collapsed, although he knew it would eventually be inevitable. Little do you know, Seto. Little do you know. The ground began to quiver under them unexpectedly as a metallic clanging was heard.

"Well, there's Evil Kenevil." Sparklez said plainly as an iron golem stepped into view, slightly startling Seto. Vines crept up its mental frame as it lumbered past the shoreline and back around the tree, out of view. Sparklez tried not to laugh as he saw Seto's face. "Sorry, I probably should have told you about him sooner. He sometimes goes up into the Tree, but never that far."

"Any other "friends" then?" Seto asked in what was strangely a very serious tone. He wasn't used to seeing an iron golem every day, but based on what Sparklez told him earlier about how for away the town was, he could understand having a few peaceful mobs around as company. He wasn't expecting to get an answer, however.

"There's Mine Sheep, but he doesn't do much. As you can guess, he's just in the mines." A look of clarity suddenly hit the man's face in realization. "I had to mine for diamonds and redstone for Seth today!" Before Seto could ask who Seth was, Sparklez was already moving quickly, only to pause and look back at him, thinking. "I've put it off this long, I guess it can wait a little more. There's not much left to see anyway." He jogged a little closer to the base of the tree, Seto following suit.

Tucked under the roots of the enormous tree was a large garden, including everything from potatoes to sugar cane. Water ran through the rows of various plants, with some pigs scuffling around inside. A little earlier it would have impressed him to see the equivalent of a small farm neatly organized and efficiently stored, but at this point he understood everything his host was capable of making. His slight smile faded as he noticed a large vermilion stain against the dirt right behind the fencing. This is where he had fallen. Noticing his expression, as by now you would assume CaptainSparklez is a very perspective person, he quickly said,

"That's it, mostly." As he began to walk up the small stairway at the foot of the tree to go back up to were they had started. He walked up swiftly, taking various items from the chests as they headed higher. Eventually, stopping back at the staircase where they started. Just as promised earlier, they were already dry from the heat. "I still can probably go mining today, and since I trust you-" He paused again, looking directly at him, almost evaluating him. "-do whatever you want. Just don't mess with the diamonds, okay?" He walked away quickly, supplies already gathered from surrounding marked chests. Seto couldn't say anything as the Captain headed back down the set they had just walked up, so he simply stood outside of the room he had apparently already spent seven days in. What was he going to do?

Remembering the messenger bag that he had left upstairs, he took the quick route, almost missing the hidden walkway again, and picked it back up. Flipping back the cover and fishing around, he randomly pulled out a red-bound book. Seeing if he could try and decipher any meaning at all from the scribbled pages, he turned to a page in the back quarter, and leaned up against the bark of the tree to read.

Tre olika typer av magi är vanligast eld , is och blixt . Detta inkluderar inte alkemister eller de som bråka med potions , samt de som helt enkelt kan förtrolla . Vem som helst , kan till och med normala människor behärska alkemi och förtrollande , men bara sanna wielders av magi kan utföra sådana bedrifter som manipulera världen omkring dem med deras naturliga födda makt . Makten aldrig lämnar dem , om inte magi i sig förstörs . Det är helt en bedrift , så det är säkert att anta att det aldrig kommer att hända . Om magi var på något sätt förstört , men skulle det finnas bara ett sätt att få den tillbaka ; införa en ny magisk källa . Det sägs att det var en gammal väg av magi framför oss , så om värsta fall och vi elimineras , det finns fortfarande hopp om att vägen av magi kan bevaras . Nu , fortsätter på den tidigare tanke , Pyromancers är den mest kraftfulla , eftersom deras magi kommer från känslor . Ice användare, eller Thaumaturges , får sin styrka från deras sinne . Även trodde att deras magi är betydligt svagare , det finns rykten om is användare att kunna frysa tiden. Nu blixt magi , eller kraften i stormar -

Seto shut the book again in frustration. There were only a few words he could really make out, and they were potions, pyromancers, and thaumaturges. The word "magi" was also repeated a lot, so he assumed that it meant magic. Pyromancers were fire magic users; that much he knew. Going along with the trend, a Thaumaturge was probably another kind of magic wielder. Nothing he didn't already know. Running a gloved finger over the runed red spine, Seto put the book back into the bag, which he then slipped back so he could carry it easier. It was still well into the day, and he had nothing to do. Strange. Normally he'd try some alchemy, but there weren't any potion supplies around. He could always try exploring the jungle, but then again he was terrible at directions and would probably only lose himself beneath the thick layer of the canopy. Suddenly, Seto remembered what Sparklez had said while showing him around. He said he kept extra weapons and tools to practice on in a chest beside the enchanting table, right? Surely it wouldn't hurt to try enchanting for once, right?

His last encounter, and to be frank all of his encounters with magic so far hadn't ended well. What if he somehow messed up and destroyed the Tree? Of course, that was worse case scenerio, but still. CaptainSparklez had been so nice to him, and it would be terrible if he did something to destroy anything he had worked so hard on. But... what really could an enchanting table do? All of the energy went straight to the weapon, so as long as he didn't mess around to much, everything should be fine. Right. He decided that he was going to give it a try, but stop if it looked like it was going downhill. Casually walking, as he was in no hurry, to the enchanting table, he passed the Nether Portal and the Diving Board again. If he truly got bored, he could just jump off of the diving board again and again, honestly.

When he got to the bookshelf-covered platform, he swore he could almost feel the energy resonating from the strange diamond-coated table. Seeing the chest Sparklez had mentioned, he opened it slowly to find a small pile of wooden and stone tools. Shovels, picks, and swords, really. There was a strange lack of axes, but then again, who needs axes when you live in a tree? Randomly selecting a shovel, he then walked over to the table, which caused the book in the center to flip open unexpectedly. Was that normal? Still a little cautious, he placed the tool on the table. Okay, he had no idea how this worked. Suddenly, the book's pages flipped again, a few lines of text glowing. Looking closer, he noticed that they were all in different spots, indicating different enchantments, perhaps? Not seeing really any point in trying to figure out what the text said, he carefully tapped the text on the right corner. He felt a jolt and was suddenly winded, as if he had just fallen through the air again. When he looked back at the shovel, he was ecstatic to see that the wooden spade was now covered in a shiny glow. As he lifted it up, he realized that runes had engraved themselves into the handle, showing proof of its magical qualities if the shimmers weren't enough. Trying again now that he had the basic method down pat, he tried again with a sword, which produced the same results, but now he was feeling a little tired. He also noticed that the glow and runes were a little different, the shade being a little pinker. A sign of a different enchantment, maybe?

Through the rest of the day, he tried out various combinations and ways, eventually putting them into piles. He was fairly certain that the ones with the slightly pinker glows and more square-ish runes had Sharpness on them, as the pile only consisted of swords. He had sorted the others into similar piles, and was eliminating slowly what they could be. It was actually really easy. He still had no idea what the books said or what the runes meant, but he could see patterns. If he picked one with a jagged line down the middle with a sword placed on the table, it was most likely going to glow a yellow like color and be a Fire Aspect weapon. Thankfully he figured out where to put the Aspect swords so they didn't burn down the Tree. That would be bad. Furthermore, if you choose and enchantment that had a string of similar runes with a dot separating them for sword enchantments, that meant it was a strong enchantment, usually level three or four. To his delight, he began to tell which ones were actually really good or the weaker ones from plain text in the book! He was so engrossed in his work that he didn't notice the sun set, or even that Sparklez was standing right behind him.

"I see you've been busy." He heard behind him as he turned around, tired. Sparklez was covered in a small layer of grime, showing evidence of the mining expedition. He motioned to the piles of newly-enchanted gear. "So, how did you do?"

"I think... I did well. Did you know that the Bane of Arthropods has a more curved line, making it really easy to avoid enchanting?" Seto asked, still excitement in his tired voice. He assumed that Sparklez would know all about this, but what he got was a blank look.

"They do? I usually just guess." The Captain responded, walking up to get a closer look at the table, and then at the neat piles he had sorted them into before looking back up at him to explain further, to which Seto didn't hesitate.

"Yes! All the glows are different depending on the strength and enchantment, too! You didn't know that?" He said eagerly, still a little confused at the lack of knowledge Sparklez was presenting. He realized he felt slightly dizzy, but dismissed it as an after effect. After looking around a while longer, he was responded with an amazed tone.

"...no. I think you have some natural talent in this thing. I never would have noticed that!" The Captain said, slightly puzzled but happy for him. This was the thing that made him happy, wasn't it? If he enjoyed it and could figure this much out in one day, he wondered how Seto could be so discouraged. Was he missing something?

"Really?" He was being... complimented? He looked back at what he spent the day on, and broke out into a grin. He had done something magic related and nothing had gone wrong! In fact, he was apparently good at it! Maybe... maybe there was still hope for him in this.

"Of course. You shouldn't doubt yourself so much. I think you should go to bed, though. You look as pale as a ghost." He joked, but it was true. Seto almost looked sick again, not that he had realized it. Trying to collect the piles of gear up and out of the way, Sparklez made a motion for him to just leave it. Not willing to argue, he made sure to at least pick up the red creeper bag again, and walk down the flight of stairs to the guest room. It felt much longer than it had coming up, even though he was going back down. Opening up the door and setting his books back down, he plopped down on the bed, tired. There was no way he'd be awake tonight. But he didn't realize he had forgotten something. Something very important.

He never even remembered that he had no memory past the last few years.


	15. Parting Paradigm

The next few days passed uneventfully. Seto actually enjoyed having someone to talk to a lot, and he was making great progress with his enchantments while trying to do his part. Sparklez almost was always doing something, whether it was building better armor or improving the Tree. He still read, though mostly at night by Glowstone light, but the strange words in the book were making even less sense than usual, if it was possible. It didn't really bother him, though, as he had a lot he had and could do now. To carry his weight, he had been doing a lot of minor tasks that Sparklez usually would have set aside a day to do individually, like sorting all of the supply chests and bringing up clean water. It was the least he could do, honestly. Meanwhile, the Captain was slowly becoming very impressed of his progress in enchanting, and even asked him if there was a way he could get him to get a specific enchantment for a new diamond sword, to which Seto readily agreed, and had by the end of the day. He wasn't even getting as tired as he had been on his first conscious day, almost growing used to the familiar pull of the books' magic.

On this particular day, which happened to be today, he was reading in the guest room again, but this time not focused on the jumble of foreign language, but with the symbols. He'd been seeing the same ones framing the cover and pages that he had with the enchanting table, and was more or less investigating for a connection, or a breakthrough into understanding. He traced a rune in his book lightly, thoughts consuming him once more. Even if he was able to understand the glyphs, what would he do then? It wasn't like he'd ever be able to fluently write in them; it was almost as good as dead. As far as he knew, there were no other magi or sorcerers. He wasn't exactly sure why he was so confident in that. In fact, it was like someone had told him that. It was like he was starting a trek down a broken path, if he could even start to walk down it in the first place, metaphorically speaking. It wasn't like there was a lot of magic in this world, either if there was any. He remembered when he first told some of the people in the village near his tower what he planned to do, and they had looked at him as if he were crazy, shaking their heads. In fact, if he didn't have the books he currently held and treasured, there would be no proof of magic at all.

In fact... where did he get them again? He paused, looking down at the worn pages. A distinct building came to mind as he struggled to recall, and he remembered it was a library. That was it. Something else had happened too, but it slipped and fell through the cracks of his mind. He looked down at what he was trying to read, and reluctantly dog-eared the page to save his place, closing it. Standing up and getting off of the bed he had been resting on, he strode over to the door and walked outside. It was still early morning, so there was a little bit of crisp coolness still in the air. Thinking more about the fact that it was still early morning and he wasn't exactly hungry yet, he took on more look at the admittedly pretty rising sun before heading back inside. He shut the door carefully to avoid causing an echo to resound throughout the tree so that, if Sparklez was still asleep, he could continue to rest.

Looking back into the small room, he went over to the chest beside the bed and pulled out one of many enchanted tools he had made, the only held currently being a pick-axe. The aura of magic that surrounded it was a light greenish hue, telling Seto that it had a Silk Touch enchantment. Picking out a piece of paper and a some ink along with a quill that he had gotten a few days earlier, he copied the symbols engraved on the wooden handle as closely as he could. He had one other Silk Touch tool, a shovel, and it, to the best of his memory, had a different pattern. Of course, his memory hadn't exactly been the most reliable as of late, so it was better to double check. Just in case. He didn't want to come to any inaccurate conclusions. He had assumed that the runes would be the same if they had the similar enchantments, and it was true; for those with the exact same enchantment on the exact same tool. If it was a little more or a little less powerful, or was on a shovel instead of a pick, the lines changed entirely. The little things made it possible for thousands of combinations, but at the cost of understanding what the various combinations did. As he pulled out the slip of paper that he had traced the Silk Touch shovel's enchantment on, he noticed that there were some similarities. He put the pick back into the chest and shut it, no longer needing any of the contents inside as he began to think. Putting the papers side by side, he realized that although the beginnings of the patterns were different, about halfway though they matched perfectly. The longer the pattern, the more powerful the enchantment, or such he assumed. Folding the paper strips together, he put them in the bag currently on the bed beside him. Done with that meander task, he took another second to think of what else he could do. His stomach growled unexpectedly, and he realized that he had actually been sitting here for a while. Looking out the window behind him, he saw that the sun was now completely over the tree tops, framing the skyline. Time for breakfast.

Being a little less cautious with the door, he exited the room and headed down the stair that were now committed to memory. Surprisingly, the Captain was already up, contradicting his earlier thoughts. Not that it mattered that much, honestly. It appeared that he had gone out and collected some apples for them to eat, as they were placed on a small wooden table, and it was a good change as the Tree had been running low on them. Either way, Seto wasn't complaining; far from it. He picked up a ripe one and walked over to the railing, leaning on it. He had been a little fearful of the heights originally, but he found himself adjusting more and more, perhaps even liking the higher elevation to the lower. It was much clearer, almost cleaner higher up in the open. If he ever made another tower, he was going to make it very open, but still safe. Speaking of clean, he had cleaned out the rucksack he carried around as not to weigh him down. It wasn't like he was going anywhere soon. He had given the spare iron and wood to Sparklez, who in turn promised to make him an iron sword. Also, since the leather, waterproof bag he had used to carry his book in was a little worn and weathered, he had crafted a new one using some of the methods he saw in bags around the Tree. He worked to the best of his abilities, and though the end result was a little crude, he still felt pride in making something practical.

"How's your morning been?" Sparklez asked, looking over at him. "I almost got taken down by an Enderman; wasn't paying attention and had a stare-down." He tried to joke, but the two of them knew very well that Enderman were a serious force not to be trifled with. Bodies seemingly made of dust and claws extending from their Void-covered skin, it was no wonder they were one of the most feared creatures in Minecraftia. Seto thought he was lucky to have never fought one, even though he knew their weakness: water. Sparklez was lucky to escape unscathed, and Seto now regretted getting up later. At the very least he could have helped.

"Wow, sorry about that. I just did some reading; nothing really." He responded, taking another bite out of the apple. "So, where did you go to get these?" He extended the apple in front of him for a second before pulling it back towards himself again.

"Not that far, really. I know all the biomes around here, and it was just past the corner of the jungle." Sparklez answered, Seto noticing he was in thought again. Strangely, he was getting much better at reading things, and that didn't just mean books. "I got you something, though." He continued, walking away but returning quickly with two small bottles, setting them on the table beside the apples. "Black and white dyes, for your clothes. I don't think that pink stuff is going to come out on its own." That wasn't the only thing on his mind, but Seto was grateful. Some of the darker stains were beginning to come out, but as Sparklez said, his clothes were probably stained forever unless he could get it out or cover it up. "Just scrub every light stain with the white dye, and everything that won't clean up can be covered up by the black dye." Seto nodded, and glanced at the apple core he was holding before letting it drop into the jungle. He picked up both of the bottles with his now free hands, holding each by the bottom as not to drop them.

"Thanks. Anything else?" He asked, concerned. He was mentally debating something; that much was obvious. He seemed almost nervous, which was strange for him. Sparklez's face instantly lightened from whatever thoughts he had been thinking, and quickly said,

"Oh, nothing!" He paused briefly, "It's just, I have somewhere to be tomorrow, and... never mind." He dismissed it, and threw the new apple core in his hand much farther into the thick shrubbery than Seto had thrown his own. "Just come back down after you've got your outfit cleaned up, okay?" He finished, walking away to do whatever extent of his routine he was going to do. To be honest, it left Seto a little more than confused, as if he was missing something. But it was best to do as he was advised, and proceeded back to his room, quickly snatching up another apple as well.

Shutting the door behind him, he walked over to where his belongings were resting slightly on the bed, and sat down, uncorking one of the bottles. The dyes would work quickly, and if the white didn't get the atrocious pink potion out, he could count on the black to back him up. Pouring some on his right sleeve and quickly rubbing it into the dense fabric, he was delighted to see the pink fade away. He did the same for the left and each of the leggings, but when it came to the main part of his shirt and boots, he realized it wasn't going to come out in some blotchy, shapeless patches. Done with the bone meal bottle, he picked up the ink on and followed suit, covering everything up and trying to make the clothing look like it had been designed that way, or as symmetrical as possible. He was delighted to find that it was working, and that he actually looked like a healthy Minecraftian, not a runaway survivor. He then realized only one thing remained; the hood. Knowing he couldn't see the back of it, he simply decided to make it all black as well, just in case. Patting down to keep the rest of it in, he sat still to let the dye set for several minutes before getting up again. He wasn't sure how to check how he looked, but his eyes quickly darted to the one thing standing against the walls of the barren room: the mirror. Sparklez had covered it back up again, to avoid breaking it any further. Striding over to the portion of the wall, he lightly tugged at the coarse fabric and pulled it off, looking at his reflection.

It almost seemed that the person in the mirror was not the one that had first looked into it. Seto had grown accustomed to looking, well, pink, but there was something else that had changed. He couldn't put his finger on it, though. Anyways, he looked a lot better. It was still a pretty plain outfit, just being black and white, but he wasn't one for color combinations. Even so, he'd read in the books that magi dressed in various colors according to what kind they were, like red and orange for the pyromancers. He didn't really have a type, unless one could count enchanting as one. That would probably be brown, if it was. Stepping back, he started to notice something strange about the mirror itself. The way it was broken in the corner... almost appeared to be a pattern of its own. Like someone intentionally carved it so it would break. Examining the corner a little more, he noticed something. A corner of something that didn't belong tucked just behind the frame. Moving closer and standing as tall as he could, he tried to pull whatever it was out, with varying degrees of success. Finally, he was able to grasp it and pull it out before he could ajar, the mirror, and saw to his surprise that it was a slip of paper. Curiously turning it over, he found that there were words scribbled hastily one one side, and in plain Minecraftian! Not many people around here could actually read or write, and he found himself wondering how old it was. He tried to make out the fading ink letters as best as he could.

_Told you I'd get the mirror out! It wasn't as difficult as you said, but then again there was this other attack that really helped and no one was there. So I didn't have to do any fighting! Anyway, we should probably move it before the Council figures out it's gone. That would be bad. Oh, and you may be wondering where I am. I found this old... friend there. It wasn't completely deserted, okay? But I'll be fine. Don't worry so much!_

_-N_

It didn't make much sense to him; after all, it was just a mirror, right? The initial at the end didn't serve any purpose to him either, as a lot of people's name's could start with the letter 'N', even though he knew no one with that. Furthermore, he had no idea of a "Council", assuming that because it was capitalized it was important somehow. Deciding to keep it simply for curiousity's sake, he folded it up and walked over to the rucksack again, putting it in with the two compared enchantments. Picking up the entire bag and putting it over his shoulder once more, he made sure to put the cover back on the mirror as best as he could before going downstairs and reporting back to Sparklez, wondering why he had been told to do such in the first place.

After doing just that, he was surprised and a little confused to see supplies laid out over the table, Sparklez himself getting together what seemed to be piles of provisions. Tools were scattered across, the floor, various colored bags and chests open with some being emptied and others being packed. It looked like a fierce wind had blown and torn through most of the practical organization that he had done. Well then. The Captain, who had heard him come down the flight, looked over at him, and said,

"Oh, you're back! You look better." He complimented, picking up one of the many leather bags and pilling in loaves of bread. "And you might be wondering what I'm doing." That was the main thing going through Seto's mind right now. He simply nodded, and wanted to find some way to help, although he could see none. "So, funny story, I actually promised I'd bring some supplies to that town I was talking to you about a few days ago. And... I forgot about it." He said, now with two bags full of food and one with assorted weapons.

"So you want to go?" Seto asked, seeing what Sparklez was doing now as he picked up another bag and filled it with the contents that had been set aside on a nearby table. "Am I coming along too?" He questioned again, setting what appeared to be the final kit of supplies on the table. There were four in a, each with various things including food and weaponry.

"That was what I was going to ask." CaptainSparklez responded, doing the same Seto had done and setting the cases on the table. "Do you want to go?"

Seto thought about it for a second. He wouldn't be alone, and it looks like it would be an enjoyable experience, too. But he would be moving farther away from everyone, and deeper into the continent he was currently on. If something happened, he wouldn't be able to find his way back. He could be lost forever.

"Of course."


	16. While We Walk

**Sorry this took so long. Technical issues.**

That was how Seto had found in the steamy jungle, trudging through the thick foliage behind a person he had known only a few days, not counting his unconscious ones. On top of his messenger bag that now included some hastily packed supplies in case of an emergency, he was carrying a medium-sized sack that held loaves of bread and assorted meats, all they had to eat on their journey. He couldn't afford to drop or lose them, and if he did, the trip would take quite the disastrous turn. Even worse, it would be all on him, and he didn't want to be the cause of something that could get the killed. No pressure, of course. Partially why he was already feeling so down was because of the humidity that seemed to drag him down, and with each additional step he took further through the heart of the jungle, the thicker the air seemed. Complaining would just make him a nuisance, so he did his best to let Sparklez focus on navigating them through the maze of vines, even if it took him a little longer to catch up.

Wild ocelots ran through the brush as their footsteps frightened and dispelled them to search for a new hiding place. Catching up, he barely escaped tripping on some roots that jutted out of the ground. Another reason to hate the jungle. Truly not his preferred biome. If he had to pick a favorite of the many different ones, he would say a small forest, or maybe even an extreme hills, now that he was getting used to heights. Not to mention that it was a lot cooler high up, as the air felt fresh and new. This, of course, completely contrasted to where he currently was. He had to admit, though, that the jungle was one of the more exotic biomes, even beautiful in a bizarre way. The tall, flourishing trees were exclusive entirely here, with the planks having a smooth texture and rich, red color. It was nice for small accents and designs, he'd heard, even if he'd never seen a building with such. Large, orange pods also hung off of the trees, along with smaller green versions of the same thing. They contrasted so greatly to the green thickness of the canopy that he couldn't help but notice them. Stopping for a few minutes to clear his head of thoughts again, he panicked slightly when he couldn't find where his guide through this whole turmoil was, only to be relieved after seeing black cloth through the veined blanket and hearing the thrashing of navigating through this snare. He quickly followed; if there was one thing he needed to work on, it was a way to deal with this new observation. He'd trail into it without even realizing it. Had he been able to do this before?

It didn't matter soon, however, as he kept following the marked trail to catch up, he found himself outside of the dreaded jungle for the first time in eight days, Sparklez waiting patiently. He must have either heard or seen him from behind, which was an easy thing to do it such a plant-dense area. Now, though, they were back in the plains, where there was barely a tree in front of them. Quite the contrast from right behind them. He still had the sack clenched in his gloved hands, not quite as burdensome now as there was no obstacles to looking out for. You never know what you could accidentally hit, whether it be person or inanimate object. Seeing him walk out from the trees, Sparklez said,

"Oh, there you are. Come on, we have a long walk ahead of us. I don't like horses." He added, a familiar smile on his face. Horses would be good right about now, but then again, when you live in the jungle and a giant tree, there's not exactly room to frolic around. Turning back around, they started walking again swiftly, Seto matching his pace.

"So, how old is this town again?" It was genuinely interesting question on Seto's part; it wasn't as if there were a lot of people ever in one place for long. First off, there weren't exactly a lot of people in the first place, and there were always mobs to consider. Often people lived alone or simply drifted town-to-town to avoid mob flow and have some companionship. Even so, it was a dangerous place. This isn't Earth, kids. You may think it would be a paradise, but it's exactly the opposite.

"Actually, it's partially rebuilt from an broken village. It's much older than the residents, as some of the original buildings were still standing and restored. I honestly lost count of how many days it's been running; a long time." Interesting. But Sparklez wasn't done yet. "Most of my friends actually permanently live there. With a little bit of hope and luck, we may never have to leave. Of course, only some people think that. Mostly the artists." A place where you could stay for a majority of your life, and live in partial peace? Impossible. They walked along the dusty grass for a while in silence as both parties thought it over. The more Seto thought about it, the less crazy it sounded. Stranger things had happened, after all. The prospect of peace wasn't that far-fetched. Still...

"I wish we could just control... everything." He mumbled to himself. It would solve so many problems, just having simple control. Unfortunately, most of the things in this world were not capable of being controlled. Magic, for example. And people. People who were crazy and made illogical choices- wait, what was he thinking? People weren't puppets. He pushed the notion to the back of his mind, hoping Sparklez hadn't heard. He had, though.

"Keep that attitude up and you'll be one of those control freaks." He joked, lightening the mood. "No, everything has to be in order! Not there!" He mimicked. making Seto smile. "In all seriousness, though, I think the world's fine. Crazy's kind of in everyone." Huh. He'd be sure to remember that. They passed by a few sheep next to a pond, who kept to their business. If sheep had business. Glancing around for something to keep him occupied, he noticed something was wrong with Sparklez. Despite the jokes, every other thing about him contradicted his tone. He seemed tense; Seto could see it in how he walked. He wasn't relaxed as he usually would be back at Jerry's Tree.

"Are you alright?" He asked, concerned. He saw Sparklez's grip tighten on the bags, and wondered if he should have pointed it out. Was it simply from traveling? No, it couldn't be. When he had gone mining a few days ago, he was as calm as ever. It was something about this journey; that much was evident. He was a little tenser on the side he was walking beside; what did that mean? Was he hiding anything?

"It's just..." Sparklez sighed. "I'm... afraid of running into someone I was hoping to avoid. We're not on the best of terms, and usually we intentionally go at different times to avoid any unhappy reunions. I'm a little late this time, and he visits after me." Oh. The talking stifled again as an uncomfortable silence set in. Seto wouldn't have thought that the Captain was the type to have an enemy of sorts. He hoped they wouldn't run into whoever they were, and cause too much trouble. His curiosity was peaked, nonetheless. Seeing how the conversation was quickly turning into a mine crash, he tried to change the subject. He thought around for some other topic, quickly. Naturally, he sprung to the first thing on his mind.

"Hey, I always wondered where you got that mirror from. The one in the guest room?" He hadn't meant to blurt it out. But Sparklez, quite on the contrary of his thoughts, seemed happy to be off of the prior topic. As they weaved through the various tall grasses and fields of yellow and red flowers, he explained.

"That thing? I was out exploring again, you know, like you do, and I found this house in the middle of the woods. It was empty, no one was there. I looked around, and I found that mirror in one of the rooms. Other than that, it had nothing else." He paused as they jumped over a small stream, an easy maneuver but still one that would take minor concentration. The sand that bordered it crunched as their weight was transfer ed from one side to the next. Now that they were over and continued walking across the dry grass, he was able to elaborate a little more. "Naturally, I thought it would be cool to have." Seto looked at him for a second at that comment, but quickly dismissed it. Still, it seemed out of place for Sparklez to just take something because he felt like it. Either completely in or out of character, he decided. There was one detail that hadn't been explained however.

"Was it broken when you got it, or did you drop it by mistake?" He asked, thinking back to its appearance in the room, and more importantly, the note in the bag. Had he known that the note was there are simply left it, or had he not noticed. Among the scattered corners of thought accumulating in his mind, this was the most prevelant question. It was almost one he didn't want to ask, because then he would have to show the paper itself. For some strange reason, he felt he should keep it hidden.

"It was like that. Always has, always will be. Unless you're an expert at repairing mirrors or something." Was that possible? Either way, he decided to drop the subject altogether. Best not to dwell on thoughts about something that wasn't even yours. They walked a little further in a new silence, but unlike the prior one, it was much more comfortable. Sparklez started to hum something as they continued, Seto mainly just enjoying the scenery. Even though wild places were the most dangerous, strangely they were the most beautiful, even if it were just a plain. The grass moved rustically along with the wind, showing signs of the faint breeze from the north. The sky was a clear blue with only a few clouds drifting lazily through it like water down an idle stream. A few sheep were in the distance, all with light, white fluffy coats. Pigs were shortly behind them closer to the stream, sniffing around the bank. For once, things seemed happy. Sparklez, almost forgetting his company, broke out into a few lyrics of whatever he had been humming.

"-mine it all, using TNT! 'Cause I built this-" He stopped when he noticed Seto's curious gaze. "Oh. Sorry. I don't have a lot of company often, so I don't... yeah. I make up songs." He sheepishly explained. Seto gave him a reassuring smile, to say all was well and it didn't matter to him.

"It's okay. It sounds good, anyway." He hadn't much experience in music, as he never had a jukebox nor listened to any records. It was nice to hear something different. Suddenly, Sparklez stopped, and dropped a few of the bags he was carrying down, and tugged one open, looking for something. A successful gleam in his eye, he pulled out an iron sword, and offered it to Seto, holding the blade. He took it by the handle, unsure why he had just been handed a weapon.

"Here; I said I'd make you an iron sword. I don't think you should go around unarmed. It's a dangerous world. And I can trust you." Sparklez explained, pulling together the sacks he had dropped. "We have a long journey ahead of us, around three days." He stood up, and they continued waking, now with each of them carrying a sword. "We'll make camp when it gets dark. But remember; be careful. It takes one wrong move." Seto already knew this, but strangely he felt honored to be trusted enough to have a sword out. Even if they had a long trip, he felt that, for some reason, wouldn't have to worry about mobs too much. Maybe things were starting to turn for the better again.

Just maybe.


	17. Denigration and Deliverance

Everything was about as calm as you would imagine.

So naturally, everyone was freaking out.

Deadlox simply stared at the uprooted decaying limb, transfixed in terror. That meant every step, ever crack, every snap he had heard while walking was the breaking of brittle bones. It almost made him sick just to think about it. The prospect, hope, and wonder of exploring the city all vanished in a moment's thought, all replaced with different swirling emotions inside of him. To simply think that there had once been that many people, Minecraftian people, and all of them lay directly under him was too much. The sharp edges of gravel digging into his skin brought him back to reality, as he pushed himself up. This was madness, and to think it was still so hauntingly familiar... he had to get away. Now. Husky, on the other hand, was not one to stop, stare, and ponder. Screaming to the top of his lungs, he tried to run wherever he could, all simple notions of architecture gone from his head. He was just a simple Mudkip; he hadn't signed up for this! He ended up, but only by accident, running towards the center of the city. He didn't even register the cracking sound from under his feet as he ran.

Sky had heard and seen the Mudkip flail past him, as he was in one of the houses not far away. He wasn't sure what was wrong as he was still foraging around in the houses, but he did see Ty staring at something before slowly standing up. Whatever it was had made Husky run in fear too, so it would be best for him to make sure they were both alright. The chest of gold and nether quartz behind him forgotten, he headed back out to follow Quentin, assuming Ty would follow along eventually. Why were they so worked up? Pity he was about to find out.

Now Mitch and Jerome in actuality weren't that far from each other, and both possessed perceptive hearing. They each darted out, Mitch with a few pieces of choice weaponry, Jerome still with the uneasy feeling he had a few moments ago. This was only confirming his fears that there was definitely something wrong with this place. They saw each other first, and a nod was all that was need for them to tell each other it was not them that had screamed. Starting to walk down one of the main roads, they could only hope that nothing terrible had happened to one of them. This was Minecraftia, after all. Anything could happen. Now, the Mudkip wasn't exactly a quick runner, but when you're scared, it's a different matter entirely. He had already made it to the center where they both were, huffing and out of breath. The screams had stopped, so one could instantly infer it was Husky that caused them. Sky followed behind him, a little difficult on account of the various items he had acquired from the buildings he was exploring. They all came to a stop at the center of the road.

"What's going on?" Came out of Sky's mouth first as he jogged up, slightly less out of breath. "What did you see?" At that time, Deadlox joined all of them, walking very quickly with wide eyes. Husky wasn't going to be talking anytime soon, and he was just close enough to hear Adam's question. After talking a quick glance at Husky, he decided to answer it as best he could, voice shaking.

"T-there... t-this plac- it's-" Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm down, although to be anything near calm was quite a feat when you know you're standing upon hundreds of once-living people. "Under the road... we're walking on... bones. It's a graveyard. A giant graveyard." He tried to finish quickly, but he was feeling sick again. Everyone seemed to register this new information slowly as they looked around. Only a few minutes into the silence, there were admittedly another chorus of screams. They didn't last as long as Quentin's, though, with said Mudkip no longer short of breath, even if he was still extremely scared. Everyone was.

"...what do we do?" Mitch asked, not budging an inch. The sack on his back was now laden with weapons, which would make it a little harder for him to anyway. Even the fact that he had a lot more now didn't help the new information he had received. He would gladly trade them all right then and there to be out of the metropolis and never come back again.

"We leave. Now." Jerome answered, taking authority again. "We're not coming back again." Due to the simply fact of him taking charge again, Sky was peeved, but not willing to complain. Suddenly, he noticed something. Doing a quick head count, he realized someone was missing.

"Where's Ssundee?" He asked, bringing it to the attention of the others. They didn't want to lose someone else; look how that turned out. None of them had seen him, but it could be assumed a few places where he would end up. Mitch said he had seen him go to the center building as well, and head inside somewhere. It was a start, and none had a moment to lose. It could be noted, though, that they cringed and shook with every step they took. Skeletons, the mob kind, were different from this. Often they were just rotten zombies that had found a bow by some means, making them a different sort of trouble. This was completely different. The city was losing its initial beauty quite rapidly, which would be an understatement if you were there. Once they had made their way past the entrance to the enormous building in front of them, they searched around for any signs of another alive Minecraftian. The walls were old and dilapidated, strangely not as pristine as the outside condition would lead you to believe. The cracked and faded wall was also tainted in faint stains that no was willing or would address.

"Ian? Are you here? We have cake." Ty said softly, but changed his mind. "Okay, we don't have cake, but come out anyway. We need to leave. Preferably before we die." Silence. Everyone looking at each other with almost expressionless faces for once, quietly walked down the hallway. It was like they were suddenly fearful of emotion or being loud, as the thing that caused the Minecraftians to be buried under the rubble would rise up and take them too. Their little search didn't last long, however, as another scream called out from a nearby door to the right. No hesitation this time, as Jerome almost ripped off of the door to a very sweet-smelling room. It was obviously an old bakery, still in fairly good condition. The cold stone furnaces were still dormant, but fresh sugar lay on the counter, suggesting their friend had done a little baking himself. What had made him scream Quickly looking around the wooden kitchen, it was easy to find a lone Minecraftian. Ian was crouched in a corner, holding his head in his hands while muttering something. From the sugar-loving Minecraftian's, and a few of his friends', point of view, it was entirely simple to tell what was wrong.

"Please... please stop..." He said, rocking slightly. His head was a nightmare again. The unfortunate reason many thought he was strange, or why he stayed primarily at his house was because of the voices that plagued him. No one wanted to speak to the person slowly falling into insanity. Worse, he could never make them go away, even though he knew they weren't real.

"What's wrong Ian? Afraid of a few little voices?"  
"You could kill them! Now! Never worry about anything again!"  
"He just doesn't want his precious friends knowing he's insane."  
"Let's make more cake! Cake is good!"  
"Tick tock. Tick tock. You're almost out of time."  
"Aw, look. They found you."

"SHUT UP!" He screamed again, begging for them to stop. Why couldn't he be normal? Why couldn't he just have a grain of silence in his mind? There was no peace for the insane, unfortunately. It had been this way his entire life, or at least since he was a little kid. It would never change, or go away. And now he was close to tears in the center of an abandoned city trying to quiet voices that weren't there. Thankfully, though, they understood. It was no secret of Ian's condition, even if it did distance him from others. They had learned to try to help him if they could. Which was what he needed most desperately this second. Sky walked over to him, the rest giving them their space.

"Ian? It's the voices again, isn't it?" A nod and whimper came out of him as he continued to dissuade the voices. It wasn't working. Sky seemed to turn into an entirely different person, a state that wasn't as rare as you'd think. He naturally seemed to know when people needed a good laugh or a comforting friend, which was what he was being this moment. Kneeling down to Ian's level and putting his hand on Ian's shoulder, he continued, "We're here for you, okay? What are they saying?"

"They... they..."

"Don't. Tell. Him."  
"You're not helping anyone, Ian."  
"All we're doing is messing around. It's all just a game, right?"  
"You're such a poor sport."  
"They just pity you anyway."

"They don't want me around you. They don't want me to talk to you. That you pity me." He whimpered, burying his head further into his lap. He wasn't going to lie to them, especially if they were the only ones concerned for him. He was sure to pay for it later, but at the moment he didn't care. Adam was willing to listen and that was all that mattered. It absolutely beat crying about it on the wooden floor. He was right, of course, as one word rang through his mind, making him flinch:

"IDIOT."

"Then they're wrong. I don't pity you; none of us do. We're just going to be here and help you through this." Sky said in an attempt to get him to uncurl from the form he was currently in. Ssundee's breath slowed as he tried to relax with the knowledge that the voices were at least partially wrong, and hesitantly looked up. He was met with a kind, understanding smile. The voices were stil prevelant in his mind, but he was more confident, and the both of them stood up. They weren't gone yet, but he was slightly better than he had been.

"Thanks." He said to Sky, happy to have him there. Then, turning his attention back to the other four in the room, he asked, "Is something wrong? I heard Ty lying about the cake and saying we needed to go." Instantly, the now comforted faces were once again terrified. After seeing that little episode, no one wanted to tell him what was so very wrong with the city. Finally, since Deadlox had been the one he had heard, he turned specifically to him. "Ty? What's wrong?"

"Under the city..." Ty hesitated again, but saw he was trapped. "There's a bunch of Minecraftian skeletons. Not the mob kind. We need to leave as soon as we can." He clearly didn't have to say anymore, as it was evident by the new expression on Ssundee's face that he didn't want to be anywhere near the city either. Everyone immediately shuffled for the door, leaving the sweet illusion of the bakery behind them as they ran for the gate as quickly as possible, the foreboding crunch still lingering behind them. The gates were still badly dented, and strangely the two bowmen that had been guarding had all but vanished. Maybe Husky's screams had sent them running for the hills. Anyways, they twisted the bent metal again, when a small, annoying, very monotone-like voice rang out.

"There they are! And there are more! Halt! Halt!"

Oh no.

Mitch, Jerome, and Adam slowly turned to see a small pool of water by the gate. There were a few once-idle squids swimming around, and by a few I mean around ten. Strangely, though, Deadlox, Husky, and Ian didn't seem to hear them. They stopped swimming when the one that had first seen them shouted at them, and glared to the best of their derpy-eyed ability. Clearly they still remembered the encounter from eight days ago, and having seriously underestimated their abilites before, it was perfectly reasonable for them to be slightly fearful of this next chance meeting. But seriously, it had to be talking squids? Their sudden stop made the three that couldn't hear the annoying voices turn to see what was going on.

"Uh, guys? It's nice you found some squids, but we're kind of trying to flee in terror here." Quentin said, trying to walk up to where Jerome had carved the stone staircase with a pickaxe. The squids sloppily looked over to see a fellow aquatic-loving creature try to move past them. Husky stopped, though, as he realized no one was following him.

"You killed... squids! We will avenge squids because... because we're squids!" They chanted as they moved closer to the edge of the water. Suddenly, they jumped out of the water at speeds they honestly shouldn't have been reaching, and latched onto the Mudkip's legs and torso. His voice was starting to go hoarse as he screamed for the umpteenth time that day, and tried running. He successfully fell on the ground, everyone else sort of stunned. Before Mitch swung the pack of weapons back over to everyone.

"Okay, not so friendly squids. Who needs a sword?" He offered, handing out weapons as quickly as the squids were jumping. Only more seemed to be following them, and it seemed like a fair match between them, with the fish already down. Everyone drawing out an iron or diamond sword, they advanced. Jerome saw an axe sticking out of one of the compartments to the side, and hastily drew it out. He could still hear the cries of the squids, but every bacca needs a good weapon before combat. It was never used; a diamond headed blade and an oak handle. The perfect tool for slaying some annoying squids. Joining everyone else, the fight of the day began, stone swords forgotten.

Ty rushed over to cut the tentacles off of the ensnared Mudkip, but three more lunged for him as he did so. Shaking them off, he winced as the sharp teeth snagged his arm, raking long marks on them. He had no clue why they were fighting squids, as they were supposedly peaceful, but if they attacked, they attacked. He stabbed another off of him, but was hastily covered by Mitch who took care of the ones jumping from the water. Not wasting a second, he cut the dead squids off of Husky, and helped him stand. Husky couldn't fight to save his life, and to be honest they just gave him a stone sword in the first place not to feel left out. He escaped to a corner of the underground cave to avoid attack. Sky and Jerome were busy fishing the squids out of the water, but not without injury. Part's of Jerome's fluffy fur had been torn out, and Sky had red bite marks down his hands, even though he wore gloves. They were coming so quickly that they couldn't deal with them; the squids were winning. Ian's shades were almost ripped off, but thankfully stayed on. They wouldn't be able to keep this up, as such fighting went on for a fair while. Finally, Sky realized they were getting worn down. Knowing they had to retreat, he yelled out,

"Run! We can't do this!" He wasn't about to desert them, though. Grabbing the sack that had originally held their weapons, he looked over to Mitch, who clearly heard. Abandoning the squid he was about to pulverize, they started to run to the stone steps, Quentin gladly trailing. Ty realized what was going on, and signalled Jerome, who had been too absorbed in the fighting to hear. They ran with Ssundee to the stairway, and tried to run up as best they could, clothes tainted slightly red. The three Minecraftians that originally had spotted the squids heard one last thing from them,

"You won't get away next time! The Squid King will never lose to you! Ow! I'm slowly dying!"

They ran, and ran, and ran. Up the stairwell, past the crater, as quickly as possible. The sun was beginning to rise as they six Minecraftians ran from the site and back to the town as quickly as possible. This had gone nothing like they originally had hoped, but they knew one thing;

They had to get help.


End file.
